Release the weevils! Tiny beetles are big business for Northern company.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: SUDBURY

After 36 years as a biologist and stewardship co-ordinator for the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), Bob Florean was all set for retirement last spring following his exit from the department. Then a tiny beetle changed all that.

Tapped for his experience and expertise, Florean was coaxed out of retirement after receiving a distressed call from EnviroScience, an Ohio-based ecological consulting company that specializes in ecological restoration, including the reduction of Eurasian watermilfoil, a non-Native invasive aquatic plant that is taking over Canadian lakes.

By releasing into the ecosystem thousands of milfoil weevils, a native aquatic beetle that feasts on the offending plant, EnviroScience has found a natural way to combat the spread of the plant, which is typically spread when boat owners don't clean their boats before transferring their vessel between water bodies.

"I got a request by frustrated lake homeowners in Guelph that petitioned the company to come out, and subsequent to that, more and more information has been getting out there," Florean said. "(EnviroScience) approached me basically to lay a path for them to enter and form a company in Ontario."

Milfoil Solution, the Canadian arm of the company, is now based out of a lab at College Boreal and is helping frustrated landowners across the province combat the growing problem. Eleven Boreal students have been hired for the summer to capture the insects, cultivate the population and ready them for release.

Though he now has approvals in place from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the MNR and the Ministry of the Environment, Florean initially faced some resistance for bringing in an American company to help with the problem.

But a solution is needed. Florean estimates the impact of Eurasian watermilfoil and other invasive species on the Canadian economy at billions of dollars a year. Eurasian watermilfoil affects recreational use of water bodies, devalues waterfront properties by up to 20 per cent and negatively impacts Canadian fisheries.

As the plant permeates a water body, creating a dense canopy, it chokes out sunlight and oxygen, resulting in a sterile underwater environment, Florean explained. Native species die off or diminish because of a lack of nutrients and food in the water.

The plant will never be diminished entirely, but treatment with milfoil weevils can drastically reduce its prevalence, improving water quality and recreational use.

One of the affected...