| March 31, 2009 **Note - All Links will open in new windows
The Move Away From Felt Felt soled waders have been the standard for many years. A quick search on the Internet finds accounts of felt from as early as the 1930's and in recent years felt soles have become so common that it can actually be difficult to find boots without felt soles. While felt is a very effective material for producing boots that grip well on wet rocks, it has also been identified as a major problem in the spread of invaqsives.
We first reported on the move to eliminate felt in the September 2008 Clean Angling News when we reported on the New Zealand felt ban, the call from Trout Unlimited to eliminate felt and the committment from Simms to eliminate the use of felt in their boots after 2010. Since that time there has been additional action on this front and here is some of the latest info.
For anglers the biggest news is probably that the Alaska Board of Fisheries has voted that beginning January 1, 2011, felt-soles will be prohibited from use in the fresh waters of Southeast Alaska. This is the first ban of felt soles to be announced in the US and likely servesd as advanced bnotice to all anglers that the same change is coming to other waters. “Getting rid of felt will not solve our problems but it's a great step along the way. Utah is committed to protecting our waters and all of our field personnel will be in felt free bootsin 2009”
Larry Dalton, Utah Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator Government agencies are already implementing elimination of felt within their agencies. Utah began phasing out felt in 2008 and will have all field personnel in non felt boots this summer. In Wyoming, Forset Service employees on several forests are being encouraged to replace their felt soled boots with non felt soles. However, agencies are finding that it can be hard to do the right thing.
"We have had trouble finding good replacement products" says Larry Dalton, Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator for the state of Utah. He continues "There is no way we can consider a public ban on felt until non felt alternatives are easily accessible by the public". Dalton believes that eliminating felt would be a big help in reducing the spread of invasives but he believes that it is yup to the companies that make waders to provide a range of options to the public. Dalton personally uses non felt wading shoes produced by Simms but recognizes that there is a high demand for non felt offerings from all boot companies.
In Wyoming the Forest Service is having a tough time finding the boots they need. They want to use boot foot waders with new generation rubber soles. Unfortunately, there is not a single company offering this type of boot for sale. "We can find boot foot waders without felt but they are all of the older rubber compounds. We need boots that are as safe as felt and that means we need them made from the new rubber compounds. The wading shoes that are used with stocking foot waders have far too many places for invasives to attach to and we want smooth, easy to clean boot foot waders for our staff."
The Center for Aquatic Nuisance Species is working with several different boot comapnies and management agencies trying to speed up the transition to felt free waders. The companies are all actively looking for ways to make their boots less likely to spread invasives and we can all expect to see dramatic changes coming in the next few years as companies produce new products and more felt bans are implemented.
This is Fly The Internet is changing lots of things in our lives and for fly anglers there are many new ways to celebrate their favorite recreation. This is Fly is a free on-line fly fishing magazine that describes itself as "Defining the lifestyle and culture for the next generation of fly fishing". This is a professional publication that is slick and glossy but only available online. They have gained a large and growing readership and the publishers have made a committment to supporting the Clentere for Aquatic Nuisance Species and the Clean Angling Pledge. We need your help to get them to contribute the maximum amount of money to our efforts.
This is Fly is in the process of preparing their first book for publication and they have pledged a portion of the proceeds to the fight against invasives. However, the portion we receive will be based on the number of people who pull for us. We will let This is Fly describe the program for you.
"This is Fly is inviting everyone to be a part of our first book. We would like to invite you to submit one of your most memorable fly fishing experiences captured on camera. This image isn't limited to just the catch - it can be lifestlye, landscape or just the in-between. This is Fly will publish selected images in this book from which the net proceeds will be donated to your choice of 3 foundations - Trout Unlimited, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust or The Center for Aquatic Nuisance Species. The photo submitted can be of you or taken by you. We hope this collaboration will show our readers our shared passion for fly fishing and the environment."
We are asking you all to pull together one or more of your favorite photos and submit them for consideration. If selected you will be rewarded by seeing your photo in this beautiful volume and will help us to continue our work by increasing the donations to us. Pass this on to anyone you know and ask them all to select us as their recipient organization. The process is easy just check out the fly fishing photo submission information.
An Error Corrected In last month's issue we recounted the story of a new Asian tapeworm reported to have invaded the Great Lakes. It appears that we had a number of critical fact errors in our reporting and would like to correct that here. Our research was largely based on a Muskegon Chronicle and it appears that the suthor of that story confused athe presence of a native tapeworm with that of the invasive Asian tapeworm. The tapeworms discussed in the article have been reported by anglers since the 1800's and there is no reason to believe that the Asian tapeworm has expanded its range.If you are interested, read more about the Asian Tapeworm Confusion. We apologize for any confusion we may have created. Thanks to those who contacted us to report the error!
Boat Inspections Mandatory boat inspections to prevent the spread of aquatic invaderscontinue to expand to new waters. We have reported extensively on this in most of our past issues and will only briefly touch on the subject in this issue. Before we provide links to some of this month's stories, we want to talk a little about what a boat inspection is.
The bottom line is that boats are inspected to insure that they are not transporting unwanted invasives. For most boats this is pretty quick and easy. Inspectors make sure that there are no visible signs of any creature on the boat, they check to make sure that live wells and bilge areas are clean and thouroughly dry. There are currently hundreds of thousands of boat inspections taking place each year and most pose little inconvienience to anglers. One of the most ambitious inspection programs is at Arizona's Glen Canyon National Recreation Area where boat inspections are mandatory. In an effort to make the process as easy as possible they actually allow boaters to self inspect and certify that their boat is clean Be sure to check out the Glen Canyon Self Inspection Program to learn more about their program. The self certification materials provide a great guide for every boater on every water.
The Glen Canyon inspection program has been proven to be effective and, just this month, a boat inspection discovered live mussels on a boat being launched. This is another example of the effetivness of prevention programs.
Here is a sampling of boat inspection issues in the news during the past month.
New fees at California's Lake Cachuma
Restricted boat ramp hours at Colorado's Lake Pueblo
The Idaho legislature is preparing to pass a bill that would create a staewide boat inspection fee
New York's Cazenovia Lake has adopted new fees for non resident boaters
All boat launches banned at California's Loch Lomond Reservoir
New legislation is moving through the Montana legislature that provides new boat inspection authorities Please Help This newsletter, the Clean Angling Pledge and all of our efforts to prevent the spread of ANS are financed by donations. Please help us with a tax deductible donation of any amount.
The Snakehead Invasion - The issue of invasive fish species in our waters really hit home with the public when Snakeheads were discovered in the wild. Brought to the US as both food and tropical fish, these agressive Asian natives have the potential to do a lot of harm to native fish populations. While they were originally confined to a few waters there have been increasing reports of them expanding their range. This month we will take closer look at these invaders.
Snakeheads are very strong hardy fish that are specially adapted to live in harsh conditions. They easily tolerate low oxygen waters by using their ability to absorb oxygen by gulping air. This asame ability allows them to leave the water for extended periods of time without suffering any problems. This has lead to their ability to "walk" from water to water. They are very prolific and can successfully spawn up to four times each year. The frequent spawning combined with both parents agressively caring for the fry means that they can expand their population very quickly. This video from National Geographic is an excellent Snakehead overview.
The most recent discovery of snakeheads was in Arkansas where they have been found in the Piney Creek drainage which feeds the White River. Fisheries managers have declared all out war on this population and are planning a massive fish poisioning project on a 49,000 sq mile watershed. Here are links to several accounts of this project. Arkansas Snakehead removal Fact Sheet with Video USFWS release
Snakeheads are now frimly estabished throughout the Potomac River system and anglers and managers seem to be resigned to the fact that there is no practical control. In fact, some anglers are now seeking out the fish and a few outfitters are offering snakehead fishing to clients. While nothing can be done about Potomac Snakeheads we must do all we can to avoid spreading these invaders to new waters.
As part of the fight to control spread, lawmakers have made it illegal for anyone to keep live Snakeheads. Unfortunately, many dedicated aquarists have kept snakeheads in their home aquaria for many years. This is causing significnat problems and the most visible has been the story of "Rocky" a ten year old pet of a New York fish keeper. Rocky is a 28 inch long giant snakehead and the owner has been ordered to get rid of him or else the state will. This has triggered a problem that is related in Rocky gets a (brief?) reprive
A Whirling Disease Success? Whirling disease (WD) has had serious impacts on many wikld trout waters across the US. While some waters seem to have developed natural coping abilities for the disease others are seeing consistently depressed wild trout numbers more than a decade after WD was first discovered. Colorado's Gunnison River is a perfect example of a stream that does not seem to have the natural ability to recover from WD. CO fisheries managers, working with WD experts determined that their best hope might be to introduce an entirely new strain of WD resistant rainbow trout into the river to see if they could provide a long term solution. While it is too early to be definative, early results are promising that the WD resistant trout may provide a quality wild trout fishery in the future.
Salmon are Threatened by Invasives Invasive species are the number on threat to the native slamon species of the Pacific Northwest according to an article recently published inthe journal Bioscience. The article, authored by staff of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center of NOAA Fisheries Service in Seattle, makes a strong case that invasive species must be controlled if we hope to succeed with salmon revcovery. Acording to the authors, "The results indicate that the effect of nonindigenous species on salmon could equal
or exceed that of four commonly addressed causes of adverse impacts—habitat alteration, harvest, hatcheries, and the hydrosystem; we suggest that managing nonindigenous species may be imperative for salmon recovery.".
Read for your self the article titled Pacific Northwest: An Over looked Risk to Endangered Salmon?
 Show your commitment to protecting our waters by wearing or using our Clean Angler merchandise. We have teamed up with cafepress.com to offer a variety of clothing and accessories that will help you to tell others that you are committed to reducing the spread of ANS. All of the profits from our merchandise will be used to help with our efforts to reduce the spread of the species that are damaging our waters and sport. Check out our complete line of merchandise at the Clean Angling Store
Lots About Weeds Aquatic weeds are a serious problem for our ecology, economy and recreation. This month we want to quickly give you a number of links to interesting weed stories. All of these are of great interest and if you have any interaction with weeds you will wnat to check these out.
Minnesota tries innovative curlyleaf pondweed control
Michigan residents discover Starry Stonewart hard to control
Lousiana makes progress in fight against salvinia and water hyacinth
In Tennessee, some anglers are pleased by reduced weed control efforts
Quick Hits There is too much happening to fully report it all but here are a few other stories that deserve your attention.
Wyoming outdoor writer Paul Braun has written an excellent article about the invasion of the Greater Yellowstone area.
In California one of the most disasterous invasive species removal prohjects ever was the effort to rid Davis Lake of introduced northern pike. At the time this was a high profile failure that made the public lose faith in fisheries managers. Through a consistent and forthright campaign, officials have turned public opinon completely around and gathered broad support for a new Davis Lake poisioning program We can all learn a lot from this story.
In Illinois, lawmakers are debating the best way to combat the growing population of Asian carp. Although there, are very different approaches to the problem are being proposed, the committment to fighting Asian carp these invaders is strong.
If you have any interest in the plight of the Great Lakes, be sure to read Choppy waters on a great lake, an excellent article from Paul Smith the Outdoor Editior of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal. This is an excellent piece that is of special interest to all anglers.
Promote the Clean Angling Pledge The Clean Angling Pledge is a personal statement of action to help protect our waters and we need your help to make sure that every angler is aware of this important program. The simple actions of Inspect - Clean - Dry can be done easily at the end of every trip and make a huge difference in reducing the spread of invasive species. You can help promote the pledge in a variety of ways and we have been working on providing some direct support to those who want to promote the pledge. Please help us grow the number of people working to protect our waters Promote the Clean Angling Pledge
The Clean Angling News is regularly produced by the Center for Aquatic Nuisance Species. If you have questions, suggestions or would like to learn more about ANS please contact us: Center for Aquatic Nuisance Species
P.O. Box 1429
Livingston, MT 59047
406-220-2059
info@stopans.org |
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