I am not forgetting anything, I assure you.

And I ALSO thoroughly and properly clean my waders and boots regularly and every time we change watersheds. But as another poster points out, that only helps. It is not a cure. What about the migratory birds like ducks, geese, eagles, and herons that move from didymo waters to non-didymo waters every year? You want to kill them too? Not legal. Violation of international treaty. And all of this doom and gloom is pure speculation.

I have already stated that I am all for voluntary proactive measures, that I am all for increasing studying and monitoring of didymo in the US, etc. But I am strongly opposed to regulatory measures that can ONLY MITIGATE the issue IF it is even a problem.

If Bamboozle does not want to fish in didymo water, that is his right. It is called voluntary restraint. But to order didymo fisheries closed to all human use (because we are talking about a LOT more than a few fly fishermen here) would create economic devastation to many regions of the US. To ban felt soles would give the makers of Aquastealth a ridiculously unfair competitive advantage and virtual monopoly on wader boot soles...putting many Americans out of work and bankrupting a few companies. Closing all didymo fisheries would also increase pressure exponentially on non-didymo fisheries, which we KNOW causes harm.

The hippocratic oath taken by physicians is a good prime directive for all scientists, industrialists, and politicians. Heck it is a pretty good rule for ALL of us. "First, do no harm." I watched a doctor on a famous TV talk show yesterday tell a severely overweight young man that he is a diabetic with severe hypertension at age 35. He went on to tell the young man that he could give him insulin and blood pressure medication, but both cause weight gain. The doctor said that the young man needed to solve his own problem by losing weight through diet and exercise, and that if he did so his diabetes and high blood pressure would go away. This is the hippocratic oath in action! The doc does not get paid for this guy dieting and exercising. He gets paid for medical treatments that require the administration of a licensed physician. What some are proposing we do to stop the spread of didymo is akin to amputating both legs because someone has athletes foot!

P.S. Bamboozle, why aren't you voluntarily refusing to fish anywhere that Eurasian Milfoil has infested streams and lakes as well? It is PROVEN to be detrimental to aquaculture, fishing, boating, swimming, etc. It is highly invasive and even causes flooding. And it is ALL OVER the state of Pennsylvania. It is almost impossible to control once established. And it can flourish in a MUCH wider array of water conditions than didymo can. I've seen several lakes in Texas ruined by this stuff. Yet, you fish all over Pennsylvania. What gives?

Here's the fact sheet from the state of PA: http://www.paflora.org/Myriophyllum%20spicatum.pdf