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That question was asked at the meeting as well - the veligers are preyed upon by planktivorous fish such as alewives or larval yellow perch (and maybe other species), but the mussels are simply so prolific that they just overwhelm any capacity to keep their reproduction in check, which is why they are so invasive

Are the mussel larvae a good food source that could sustain a given population of prey species or are they the kind of food source that will cause the prey species to starve to death with a full gut? Do they provide a measureable source of energy and nutrients like the algae and other microorganisms do? I can see the population control idea is not happening. I am hoping to hear that for all the bad the quaggas do that there is maybe not a silver lining but a little grey colored one.

I don't have a great quantitative answer for how much of a food source veligers provide to baitfish, but I feel pretty confident in saying that the mussels filter out a lot more food for planktivorous baitfish than they give back in the form of veligers

The only thing approaching a silver lining to the mussels is that gobies are thriving by eating them, and lots of stuff eats gobies.