Report a Suspected Aquatic Invasive Species Without Spreading It or Declaring an Infestation
Document and report a suspected aquatic organism through the responsible authority while keeping observation, identity, occurrence, establishment, status, response, and public communication separate.
What to do first
If you suspect an aquatic invasive species, protect people, stop activities that could spread it, and document the observation from a safe and lawful position. Record the date, location, habitat, observable features, scale, photographs, and contact information without declaring an identity or infestation. Do not capture, move, release, kill, retain, transport, clean, disinfect, or dispose of an organism or associated water unless the responsible authority directs an authorized action. Check current official reporting and jurisdiction sources, then report promptly through the responsible state, Tribal, territorial, federal, or regional channel. A report is not a verified occurrence; a photograph or app result is not authoritative identification; an eDNA detection identifies genetic material, not necessarily a live organism or population. Keep detection, identification, occurrence, establishment, nonindigenous origin, invasive status, injurious or regulated status, response eligibility, authorization, implementation, and effectiveness as separate states. Preserve the report ID, instructions, custody, corrections, and release controls, and do not publish sensitive locations or claim an infestation before authority confirmation.
- Protect people and stop avoidable spread before documenting a suspect
- Create useful observation evidence without asserting identity
- Use current official reporting and jurisdiction channels
- Keep report, detection, identity, occurrence, establishment, and status separate
- Collect or transfer specimens only under recorded authority
- Preserve corrections and protect sensitive occurrence information
Use this guide inside a field curriculum.
1. Protect people and stop potential spread
Safety and containment precede identification work.
Pause launching, retrieval, sampling, transfer, drainage, or movement that could carry organisms, water, mud, plants, bait, gear, vessels, trailers, or equipment to another waterbody. Use the current site and employer safety plan. A suspected organism does not justify hazardous handling, trespass, vessel entry, underwater work, or improvised containment.
2. Observe without unauthorized capture, release, or movement
The public observation branch is non-destructive unless an authority gives different instructions.
Observe in place when safe. Do not move a specimen, empty water, return a captured suspect, transfer bait, scrape fouling, or decide that killing or retaining an organism is lawful. Species, possession, transport, animal-welfare, protected-resource, and invasive-species rules vary by jurisdiction and circumstance.
3. Record time, location, access, and privacy
A useful report locates the observation without exposing sensitive resources or private information.
Record date, time, waterbody, coordinates or mapped location, shoreline or offshore context, depth if already known, access status, observer, and contact route. Mark private property, protected species, cultural resources, critical infrastructure, response weaknesses, and other sensitive location information for controlled release.
4. Capture descriptors, photographs, and scale without naming the species
Document what was observed before selecting an identity.
Record body form, shell or external features, color, size range, count, attachment, behavior, substrate, nearby habitat, and whether the evidence is an organism, fragment, shell, molt, egg mass, fouling, track, photograph, or molecular result. Use a safe scale and multiple views when possible. Preserve original files and metadata; an image-recognition result is only a lead.
6. Report through the responsible official channel
Prompt reporting starts verification; it does not complete it.
Follow the current jurisdictional reporting route and provide the observation record without upgrading certainty. Where appropriate, use or reference USGS NAS reporting and the relevant state, Tribal, territorial, federal, or regional program. Record recipients, time, report or case ID, evidence transmitted, expected follow-up, and any separate notifications that remain required.
7. Collect or transfer a specimen only when directed
Specimen authority, method, custody, transport, receipt, and disposition must be explicit.
If the authority requests material, record who authorized collection, the allowed taxon and quantity, location, method, safety and biosecurity controls, container, label, preservation, custody, receiving expert or laboratory, transport conditions, receipt, storage, return, and disposal. An instruction to photograph is not specimen authority; a collection permit is not automatically transport or possession authority.
8. Keep evidence and decision states separate
Each consequential state needs its own evidence, owner, date, and confidence.
| State | Meaning | Does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Report or detection | A submitted observation, specimen, instrument, or molecular signal | Authoritative identity or occurrence |
| Identification | A taxonomic determination with stated confidence | Establishment or invasive status |
| Occurrence | A reviewed place-and-time record | A reproducing population |
| Establishment | Evidence of sustained local persistence or reproduction | Harm, regulation, or treatment authority |
| Regulatory or program status | A controlling authority's current classification | Site action or implementation |
| Response and effectiveness | Authorized action and separately evaluated outcome | Eradication or restoration without evidence |
9. Communicate without declaring an infestation
Public wording must match the strongest reviewed state and protect sensitive locations.
Use terms such as reported, under review, detected by a named method, provisionally identified, authority-confirmed occurrence, or authority-confirmed establishment only when supported. Name the responsible source and update time. Do not publish an exact sensitive location, imply database silence means no occurrence, or turn a preliminary report into an infestation, safety, closure, eradication, or treatment announcement.
10. Preserve the handoff, correction, and supersession trail
The record remains useful only if later determinations can correct it without erasing history.
Retain original observation, report ID, evidence, custody, determinations, confidence, reviewers, communications, restrictions, and dates. Link corrections, changed identities, duplicate records, rejected reports, new occurrence or establishment findings, changed regulatory status, and public corrections as versioned events rather than overwriting the original state.
Sources and review notes
Educational aquatic-invasive-species prevention, surveillance, reporting, and program-planning guidance only. This material is not a species identification, occurrence verification, establishment finding, invasive or injurious status determination, watercraft clearance, decontamination protocol, permit, pesticide label, incident command, eradication decision, treatment recommendation, legal opinion, or authorization. Current federal, Tribal, state, territorial, local, landowner, laboratory, taxonomic, safety, animal-welfare, protected-resource, pesticide, discharge, transport, possession, reporting, inspection, decontamination, and public-communication requirements control.
- Early Detection Rapid ResponseU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · agency guidance
- Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force: Get InvolvedU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · agency guidance
- Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force: PreventionU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · agency guidance
- Clean, Drain, DryU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · agency guidance
- Injurious WildlifeU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · reference
- Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database and WebsiteU.S. Geological Survey · reference
- NAS Database CharacterizationU.S. Geological Survey · reference
- NAS Database Queries and Data DisclaimerU.S. Geological Survey · reference
- Environmental DNA in the NAS DatabaseU.S. Geological Survey · reference
- Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information SystemNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · reference
- GLANSIS Inclusion and Classification CriteriaNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · reference
- Invasive Mussels: Guidance and ProceduresBureau of Reclamation · field protocol