This reminds me of the Zebra Mussels in Lake Erie. In the 80s and 90s, invasive Zebra Mussels got into Lake Erie, and started spreading quickly. They would cover the surfaces of everything. They were afraid that they would eventually clog up the water inlet that supply drinking water to the region.

There was a near panic among government leaders for several years, as the mussels grew out of control, and no solution could be found. They even announced a contest with a significant reward if anyone could come up with a solution, but nobody could. So the problem increased.

Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, so pollution and organic matter tends to concentrate there, making it very murky, and impossible to see. But the stuff in the water was food to the Zebra Mussels, and the population kept filtering the water, feeding.

Eventually, the population reached a level that the water was clearing up, allowing the sun to penetrate deeper into the water. It turns out that Zebra Mussels don't like the sun, and between that, and the decreasing amount of food in the water, their breeding slowed significantly. Now they seemed to have reached a good balance. They aren't going away, but they aren't the existential threat that they once were either.

The best news is that since the water is much clearer now, it has caused an increase in scuba diving. Being the shallowest of the Great Lakes, Erie has also known over the centuries as a bad lake to be on in a storm, and there are many shipwrecks on the bottom. They were hard to dive on in the old, dirty water days, but today those wrecks are visible, and attracting diving tourists.

So all they had to do was nothing, and the Zebra Mussels problem fixed itself, and caused a new business segment to boom.