CUMBERLAND — Maryland will seek to ban the use of felt-soled waders and hip boots by anglers beginning next year in an effort to prevent the spread of an invasive algae to the state’s trout streams, according to Jonathan McKnight of the Department of Natural Resources.
Didymo, with the street name rock snot, exists in the Gunpowder River near Baltimore and in the lower Savage River in Garrett County.
It has also been confirmed in streams in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Didymo sometimes forms dense mats. It is not a threat to human health but it can cover the stream bottom and suffocate beneficial organisms. It can also create difficult fishing conditions, fouling lines and terminal tackle. The mats may persist even after the algae dies, causing habitat damage for an extended period of time. Rock snot looks slimy, but feels like wet wool or cotton, and can be white, brown or yellow.
Didymo first turned up in Maryland in 2008 in Gunpowder Falls below Prettyboy Reservoir. Subsequent monthly DNR surveys in the Gunpowder watershed have shown that densities peak in late winter, particularly in the Falls Road area. It is too early to tell how didymo may impact aquatic insects and other important organisms in the food web.
Didymo has been spreading rapidly into clean cold streams along the Eastern Seaboard for the past few years.
“The better the trout stream, the more didymo likes it,” McKnight said Wednesday. “We believe that fishermen, particularly fly fishermen who travel from one high-profile trout stream to another, transport didymo in the felt soles of their waders.”
Recent studies in Japan show didymo can live up to a month in the felt soles, according to McKnight.
McKnight, who is the DNR’s associate director for habitat conservation, said he is particularly concerned about keeping didymo out of the upper Savage and its tributaries as well as the Casselman and the Youghiogheny rivers.
A year ago, numerous scrubbing stations were installed along the state’s trout streams so that anglers could disinfect their waders. McKnight said 10 more stations are ready to be installed alongside trout streams in far Western Maryland.
“I want to get the word out about this possible regulation change because I don’t want fishermen buying felt-soled boots that will become illegal to use. And I don’t want dealers, especially the small dealers, stocking them and then not being able to sell them.”
Dan Miller, manager of Super Shoe Store at Motor City, said Wednesday that felt-soled waders are the store’s No. 1 seller to anglers.
“This will affect the Hodgman waders and all of the neoprene gear,” he said. “It will have an impact upon us, certainly. Fishermen use the felt-soled boots because they don’t want to swim or sink,” Miller added, referring to the fact that felt slips less than lugged soles on submerged surfaces.
McKnight said Alaska and Vermont are also moving to create similar regulations.
McKnight was unsure Wednesday about the process to quickly enact such a regulation. The Maryland Fisheries Service has already conducted public regulation meetings and the change in footwear was not proposed.
“As long as there is one trout stream without didymo, it is worth fighting to keep it out,” McKnight said.
Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.
Local News
Related Photos
-
In this 2009 Times-News file photo, Jonathan McKnight of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources is shown erecting a wader wash station on the Casselman River. Such stations allow trout anglers to disinfect their waders or hip boots in an attempt to keep from spreading an invasive algae from one stream to another. Now the agency is proposing to outlaw felt-soled bottoms on such footwear.
State considering measures to stop spread of rock snot
- Local News
-
-
Maryland puts new Allegany High on drawing board
Allegany County Public School officials got the go-ahead from the state this week to start designing a new Allegany High School — a project many here have dreamed about for decades.
-
Man sentenced in Bel Air pharmacy robbery
A 21-year-old man charged in a 2011 drug store robbery faces the possibility of a long time in prison despite a sentence of one year and one day to serve in a Maryland prison.
-
RIDE OF THANKS
Riders taking part in the 2012 National Veterans Awareness Ride make their way into the Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery Friday.
-
City of Keyser now finds itself without payroll clerk
Yet another Keyser city employee has resigned citing a “hostile” work environment as the reason.
-
Smart utility meter ruling by PSC has no effect on Potomac Edison customers
A decision by the Maryland Public Service Commission, while affecting many electricity customers in the state, will not have a direct impact on Mountain Maryland.
-
Making reading materials neater
Ginny Wright, manager of the Allegany County Bookmobile, straightens up books while waiting on children at Hannah Plaza stop Tuesday afternoon.
-
Free fishing waters sought by state service
The Maryland Fisheries Service will soon begin a county-by-county look, seeking streams, rivers, ponds or lakes where anybody can fish without having a license.
-
FSU professor publishes book on newspaperman
When visitors to Colonial Williamsburg step into the Printing Office on Duke of Gloucester Street, they are entering the world of 18th-century printer William Parks.
-
Heading toward the top
This recent photo shows Claire Jarrell of Beckley scaling her way to the top of an 80-foot climb known as "Easily Flakey" at Fayette Station in the New River Gorge in Fayetteville, W,Va.
-
DelFest continues to roll at county’s fairgrounds
The fifth annual DelFest continues to roll at the Allegany County Fairgrounds.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Maryland puts new Allegany High on drawing board
