Spread of Didymo and other stuff

[sport]

I encountered Didymo in the South Holsten river in Tenn last summer. Real nasty stuff. I have been reading up on Didymo and other invasives and to me one of the answers to this problem is real simple. Ban the sale of felt sole waders. There are suppliers that make alternative soles to felt. What do you all think?

[DickM]

See: http://www.issg.org/database/species/ec ... 5&fr=1&sts

[SilverMallard]

Ban felt? How about cleaning your boots and waders?

If we banned everything that someone wants banned for some "good" reason or another we wouldn't be able to fish period.

[sport]

Well, you people really disappointment me. I posted his hoping to get an intelligent discussion started, but instead most of you have decided to
take the Ostrich approach. This stuff (Didymo), is a real threat If you can't think about giving up your felt wader soles, think about fishing in waders with metal golf spikes, because this is what you will need to wade a river infected with Didymo. Like the Sargent in Arms said when getting run down by students in Animal House, " All Is Well"!

[Betty Hiner]

I'm sorry you're disappointed in us. Obviously you haven't read everything in the other forums that have been going on for a couple years about didymo and its' spread, both in the States and New Zeland. There's alot of information out there. There's been discussion about felt/stealth soles, and cleaning gear, waders, boots; what to use, and how to do it. There's alot more to it than just banning felt soles.

[SilverMallard]

I saw a bumper sticker a few weeks ago that sort of summed this up sarcastically. It said, "Save the Earth! Kill yourself."

I've been studying Didymo and writing about it...I think even on this here website...for YEARS. Felt wading soles are NOT the problem. NOT CLEANING THEM is the problem.

Most conservation issues are a problem of laziness. A few are a matter of money. For the most part, if everyone would pick up one piece of trash every time they are outdoors, the world would be pristine! If we would clean our boots and waders, not discard our spent leader/tippet material, and stop using lead for weights, AND pick up that one piece of trash someone else left behind every time we fish our streams would also be in MUCH better shape. The gov't is already doing a fair job of cracking down on water polluters and updating regulations and enforcement in accordance with the Clean Water Act. Some states aren't doing enough about ag-based pollution. And there are always folks out there trying to roll it back. But MOST of the problems that impact our fishing experiences that WE can directly control could be solved easily if people gave a hoot.

But when someone comes along with a bright idea to ban felt...or some other similar banning notion...it can usually be traced back to the guy who owns the "alternative" to it and would make a huge profit from the ban.

Greed and laziness. It's the human condition. I've been a conservation activist for almost 30 years. I donate huge chunks of time, money, and energy to it (huge being relative to how much of each I have, not what others contribute). And I've educated myself way more than the average bear on the subjects. You're not likely to shame me into seeing things your way.

Just for grins and giggles...would you mind telling us what your company that you are the VP of manufacturing of makes? You see where I'm going with this? It was a suspicious post.

[Gringo]

Don't want to get embroiled in anything, merely would like to add that in New Zealand there has been much discussion about felt sole boots and Didymo. While it is a complex issue as stated, it appears that recent tests have shown that cleaning agents do not penetrate the felt entirely to the base, and that it is possible that this results in poor hygene and spread of the problem. I admit this is only one facet of the issue, and don't know how long the spores could survive etc. It was suggested that aquastealth or rubber "non absorbent" wading boot soles were a better alternative in infected areas. Perhaps this is what was being referred to by Sport.

[SilverMallard]

Don't want to get embroiled in anything, merely would like to add that in New Zealand there has been much discussion about felt sole boots and Didymo. While it is a complex issue as stated, it appears that recent tests have shown that cleaning agents do not penetrate the felt entirely to the base, and that it is possible that this results in poor hygene and spread of the problem. I admit this is only one facet of the issue, and don't know how long the spores could survive etc. It was suggested that aquastealth or rubber "non absorbent" wading boot soles were a better alternative in infected areas. Perhaps this is what was being referred to by Sport.

I'm sure it was, Gringo...something along those lines. But my point and question remain. The man called for a BAN on felt soles. That's pretty extreme.

[Betty Hiner]

I may be missing something here, but, why, in the name of anything holy, don't you NOT wade in didymo water?!?!? Simple precautions seem like they'd be a good starting point, at the very least!

[SilverMallard]

Well, Betty, it's getting pretty widespread. So that could have a huge impact. Didymo is present in the Little Red River and White River in the Ozarks...for example. And boats and boat trailers moved from that water to other waters can spread it as well if they aren't thoroughly cleaned. Can you imagine the economic impact? Didymo is an algae. It's pretty darned near impossible to prevent the spread of algae strains from one place to another. We all live upstream. The best that we can hope for is to supress spreading through good hygeine/gear maintenance practices.