Sounding the clarion call for more action to protect the Great Lakes, the environmental group Great Lakes United is urging more progress in keeping out invasive species for the basin.

The group says that 2011 is a pivotal year in the battle to protect the Great Lakes and other waters from the onslaught of invasive species."

Its warning comes on the eve of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, an important wterways for the movement of goods but also the chief venue for the introruction of such invasive species as the zebra mussel and the round goby. Critters like these cost the Great Lakes citzenry upwards of $200 million in damages and control costs, the environmentalists say.

To combat the spread and further introduction of more invasive species the environmentalists are calling for more rigorous action and stiffer laws to prevent invasive species introduction through the ballast water of ocean-going vessels that also move through the Great Lakes.

-Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com