PENN YAN, N.Y. — An invasive species discovered in Keuka Lake, called the starry stonewort, has drawn concerns from the Keuka Lake Association.

Jeff Colby of Massachusetts just spent some time out in Keuka Lake.

What You Need To Know

  • An invasive species discovered in Keuka Lake, called the starry stonewort, has drawn concerns from the Keuka Lake Association

  • If not controlled, some say the starry stonewort would push out local sunfish and bass, which could hurt fishing and tourism

  • Keith Gray, president of ILM, says it is a safe way to get rid of them without harming the lake’s ecosystem

  • The Finger Lakes Institute says the starry stonewort has also been found in other Finger Lakes 

“We rented a cottage,” Colby said. “We just brought the boat. It’s very windy out there today. But we were here for two weeks and we used the boats most of the days.”

Upon docking at the Penn Yan Outlet, he was greeted by Keuka Lake Association Watercraft Steward Ross Abbett.

After Abbett did a quick inspection, he didn’t find traces of an invasive species. He was specifically looking for the starry stonewort, which was recently discovered in the lake. It is a macro algae, native to Europe and Asia that found its way to the lake within the last several years.

Laura Bailey is a Natural Resources Educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension in Yates County. She says this particular algae spreads easily and with no predators to feed off of it, it could potentially drive out the local fish species and change the lake’s ecosystem.

“It doesn’t require a root,” Bailey explained. “It just requires a piece of this plant caught on a water craft and that water craft goes to another water body, launches and then this fragment falls off into a new water body and it can root and establish a whole new population just by a piece of it.”

As the water steward, Abbett also monitors how the amount of Starry Stonewort in the Penn Yan outlet that leads to Keuka Lake. This is accomplished with a rake toss. He’s not surprised that he pulled out a lot more starry stonewort than anything else.

“It’s grown up higher in the water column, so it’s actually crowded some of the natives at this point,” said Abbett. “And it has become a more dominant part of the sample in the past few weeks.”

If not controlled, Abbett says the starry stonewort would push out local sunfish and bass, which could hurt fishing and tourism. That’s why as a water steward who grew up on the lake, he teaches boaters like Jeff how to prevent the spread of invasive species.

“This area has always been very important to me,” said Abbett. “And it’s important to me that plants like the starry stonewort don’t end up in other places. Because I know those places are just as important to other people as Keuka is to myself.”

The Keuka Lake Association and Cornell Cooperative Extension are also taking active steps to get rid of starry stonewort. They brought in Integrated Lakes Management from Illinois to pull out starry stonewort by vacuum from the northwest branch of Keuka Lake.

Keith Gray, president of ILM, says it is a safe way to get rid of them without harming the lake’s ecosystem.

“We care about the environment,” said Gray. “Our entire staff is made up of first and foremost of ecologists and people who care about the environment. While chemical control of invasive plants is an option; it’s a tool. We work hard to develop ways to remove the invasives and restore the ecosystem without using harsh chemicals.”

The Finger Lakes Institute says the starry stonewort has also been found in other Finger Lakes such as Consesus, Canandaigua, Cayuga, Oswasco and Skaneateles.