Walloon Lake Association 2010 Swimmer's Itch Initiative

July, 2010

As part of the Walloon Lake Association's Swimmer's Itch Initiative, wildlife biologists were hired to harass Mergansers this past spring before they nested on Walloon Lake.  This helped reduce the number of Mergansers on the lake, this year and in subsequent years, thus reducing the level of the parasite that causes Swimmer's Itch.

Please contact the WLA Office by phone (231/347-0100) or email (wla-wltc@walloon.org) if you see Mergansers off of your lakefront property.  This will be most helpful to the wildlife biologists as they do their work.

Thanks in advance for your help and understanding as we work diligently to reduce Swimmer's Itch on Walloon Lake.  Because of the life cycle of the parasite it takes several years to see results, but we are committed to address this on a long term basis.

We are working with the MDNRE to find other acceptable ways of reducing the Merganser population on Walloon Lake, and will keep you posted on these activities as we move forward.

BACKGROUND

The Walloon Lake Association launched a comprehensive Swimmer's Itch Initiative last summer, by investigating all the known techniques to reduce the level of parasites that cause Swimmer's Itch in the lake.  We hired a local wildlife biologist (his company has a wildlife biologist on staff who specializes in waterfowl) to help us in the evaluation and implementation of the best practices, and to work with the DNR to obtain any permits required for this work.

Past research shows that of all the waterfowl involved in the life cycle of the parasite that causes Swimmer's Itch, by far the Merganser is responsible for the largest parasite loading in the lake.  We hired the wildlife management company to hunt Mergansers during the 2009 fall hunting season, and they removed 60 Mergansers that were primarily resident birds to Walloon Lake.  This should reduce our Merganser population on the lake during the summer of 2010 and into the future.

Click on the link below to read a very complete article about Swimmer's Itch:

www.swimmersitch.org/faq.html#HOWLONG

The Walloon Lake Association does not support the use of chemicals to treat Swimmer's Itch.  The short term and long term affects of chemically treating Swimmer's Itch are unknown.  Using chemicals for this purpose requires a permit from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Water Bureau, Aquatic Nuisance Control Section, located in Lansing.  If you believe someone is using chemicals to treat Swimmer's Itch on Walloon Lake, and would like to know if the proper permits have been obtained, contact the MDNRE at 517/241-7734.