Arkansas Game and Fish Commission was forced to close all three boat ramps to Mercer Bayou in Miller County near Fouke recently in response to the discovery of giant salvinia,
Hot Springs Village Voice
Giant salvinia, a harmful aquatic plant, was discovered in Millwood Lake Monday, Dec. 28, by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Army Corps of Engineers staff. This is the fourth known location in southern Arkansas infected by the aquatic invasive species.
According to Eric Brinkman, fisheries supervisor in the AGFC’s Hope office, biologists collected several small clusters of the plant near Jack’s Isle along Little River. No large mats of the plant have been found yet, but it only takes a single piece to become an issue once the weather warms.
“It may look small at first, but this plant grows and reproduces extremely fast,” Brinkman said. “Under ideal conditions in warm weather, it can double in size in less than a week, and nearly every fragment of the plant can create a new mat.”