The National Commission for the Protection of Nature, in which the General State Administration, through the Ministry of the Environment, and the Autonomous Communities are represented, has met to analyse and discuss the proposals for action presented at the meeting by the Zebra Mussel Working Group of this body.

This plan will be drafted by the Technical Working Group and could be finalized by the end of the year. The document will include measures to alleviate the damage in the affected areas, promote R+D+I actions and detail initiatives aimed at preventing expansion to other areas. In addition to the drafting of this strategic plan, the Working Group has included among the proposals presented this afternoon to the Commission, to carry out a systematic sampling throughout Spain to know the true extent of the area colonized by the zebra mussel. This action will be carried out in coordination between the Ministry, through the Hydrographic Confederations, and the Autonomous Communities.

It also considers it advisable to carry out awareness and information campaigns, the adoption of measures aimed at preventing the spread through the different uses of water (industry, agriculture, supplies, etc.), the development of a protocol that includes actions on the different vectors of transmission, the implementation of eradication methods in confined waters and research into biological means of control against mussels.

The Working Group is made up of technicians from the Ebro and Júcar Confederations, the General Provincial Council of Aragon, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Generalitat Valenciana and the General Directorate for Biodiversity of the Ministry of the Environment, and is part of the National Commission for the Protection of Nature.