Spurts of goo oozed between Jeff Wingfield’s fingers as he methodically crushed a handful of golden mussels, popping the shells of the tiny invaders like bubblewrap.

“You can just push your way right through them,” said Wingfield from the dock where he stood at the Port of Stockton, looking down at the thimble-sized debris in his palm.

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Last October, a couple of miles down the Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel, state water managers first discovered that golden mussels had invaded North America.

Seeing how fast they’ve multiplied in the last year “was like a gut punch,” said Wingfield, a deputy director at the port.

The mussels are infamous for voracious appetites that fuel their rapid growth. Now, state and local water managers are battling to keep golden mussels fro

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