NZMS: are we moving deck chairs on the Titanic?

[rayfound]

This article has bot me thinking that maybe all the wader washing, felt-abolishing, and 409 sales are in vain:

http://www.tested.com/news/articles/43487-snails-travel-hundreds-of-miles-inside-duck-intestine--/

Maybe there are too many natural vectors for fishermen to have an impact?

[darrin terry]

Hmmm. I knew they were able to survive a trip through a trouts digestive tract, so I guess this should not be too surprising. Crappy ducks.

[Artin]

Good find... I always knew this. Animals are the #1 transporter of plant and animal species. But it never occured to me that they also move the NZMS until this article. I don't know how I didn't put 1 and 1 together. Thanks.
I have fallen victim to the Vibram soled boot marketing tactic. (has me pretty * till this day).
The more you think about it the more hopeless all the precautions we take are.
I started feeling like I made a mistake of buying maybe a week after I bought the boots. Now I need to add cleats because they suck in my opinion vs. the felt. Man...

And the snail moves on.....

Artin

[briansII]

I think you are right. There's no way to stop the spread. I do think fishermen have spread NZMS, but to what level is just not known. We also have didymo and quagga mussels to worry about. ......and who know how many species of invasive swimmers, crawlers, walkers or flyers.

FWIW, I bought rubber soled wading boots before they made all the fuss about felt. Even though Simms is making felt again, I'll still buy rubber soled boots. With studs they grip ok, and I just like them better for walking/hiking. AND, my truck floor mats stay cleaner.

briansII

[Trootfisher]

Interesting...

I've often wondered how NZMS made it from New Zealand to trout waters in the US in the first place . . .

[1mocast]

Interesting...

I've often wondered how NZMS made it from New Zealand to trout waters in the US in the first place . . .

Blame it on Donald Duck. He flew 1st class.

[Gary C.]

I speculated on these boards a long time ago that I thought birds were a much bigger threat than our wading was. I hadn't figured that riding along in a ducks digestive track was happening but that all those aquatic birds flopping and bathing in shaollow water then fly on to the next pond has to be spreading lots of nasty critters.

[Papasequoia]

I think you are right. There's no way to stop the spread. I do think fishermen have spread NZMS, but to what level is just not known. We also have didymo and quagga mussels to worry about. ......and who know how many species of invasive swimmers, crawlers, walkers or flyers.

I agree with this sentiment. Just because it has been shown that there are other ways for NZMS to spread does not automatically mean that it has been disproven that fishermen with felt-soled waders have an impact. It has been proven that fishermen can transport NZMS on their equipment - knowing that there are other methods of transport does not negate that fact. Who has a bigger impact is an unknown factor at this time. However, while we can't keep ducks from pooping, we can change our actions to limit our influence.

Also like Brian, I'm glad to get rid of felt and use rubber. I do a lot of scrambling on rocks out of the river moving from place to place and much prefer the security of rubber on dry rocks. And as a four-season fisherman I appreciate the fact that I don't grow a foot in height when walking on snow because it sticks to the felt bottoms. I've gotten used to wading with rubber soles and for me the tradeoff was more than worth it. YMMV.

[darrin terry]

It is almost certain that NZMS was brought to the U.S. by way of a fisherman's gear. The article says they could go more than 200 miles in a duck's guts. It's about 9000 miles from New Zealand to California and if I recall, NZMS was first introduced in Idaho's Snake River and spread outward from there. It has spread by various means, and I believe that fishermen and other outdoors enthusiasts bear part of the responsibility for that. Ducks? It sure looks possible. Fish? Yes it has been proven that NZMS can survive a trip through a trout's guts as well. Seeing as there have been documented infestations in hatcheries such as the Hot Creek hatchery, it seems very likely. Yes I know that the HC hatchery fish are only planted in waters known to have NZMS, but how about before the infestation was discovered? How about a bear, or a deer walking through HC and picking up a hitchhiking snail or three. It then crosses the hills and into another creek or two dropping a snail or two in new waters? Oops. Guess what? Another NZMS positive water. Cleaning our gear is only going to help keep us from contributing to the spread.