Maine Fisheries and Wildlife officials await new invasion
By JOEL ELLIOTT
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel Thursday, July 26, 2007

AUGUSTA -- Creeping along river bottoms, killing off fish and insects and driving away boaters and swimmers, an invasive species of algae has encompassed half the globe.

And an infestation of it is heading toward Maine, according to state officials.

A recent sighting along the Vermont-New Hampshire border has officials at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife urging boaters to scour their hulls between outings in an attempt to stave off the onslaught.

Green, brown and aggressive, it has the texture of wet wool and seems to mimic strands of damp toilet paper.

The name of the menace?

Rock Snot.

Rock Snot, or "Didymosphenia geminata," as it is formally known, is found in Scotland and Poland, but in 2004 bubbled to the surface in New Zealand.

Within 18 months, Rock Snot had run into 12 rivers on New Zealand's South Island, according to a release from Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Rock Snot has since dribbled into Québec, British Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina.

"The ease with which (Rock Snot) can be spread is a real concern for anyone who enjoys Maine's waters," the department's Director of Fisheries John Boland said. "All of Maine's rivers and streams are at risk."

The invasive algae uses stalks to attach to underwater rocks and plants, collecting into masses of 10 to 12 inches deep and trailing 2 to 3 feet downstream along river bottoms.

Unlike variable-leaf milfoil, another much-publicized invasive plant species in Maine, Rock Snot prefers cool, clear streams with gravelly rock bottoms, according to department spokesman, Mark Latti. Variable-leaf milfoil flourishes in murky water and fertile lake bottoms. Variable-leaf milfoil can proliferate from a single 1-inch strand segment, whereas a Rock Snot infestation can explode like a sneeze from a single cell.

Boaters should make sure that they clean and dry the undersides of their watercraft to avoid spreading Rock Snot, since no one knows how to eradicate it, Latti said.

"It's really nasty-looking stuff, and it just coats the bottom," he said. "It's just gooey strands. ... Nobody's going to want to go swimming there; nobody's going to want to canoe over it."

Joel Elliott -- 861-9252

jelliott@centralmaine.com

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Joe Schmoe of Augusta, ME
Jul 26, 2007 9:54 AM
Bass fishermen, I believe, are the most travelled group of boaters around. Families will travel with their boats, but usually to only one or two favorite spots.
Bass fishermen, on the otherhand, have been known to travel great distances in their quest to participate in another bass tournament.
I would cerainly want to inform this group of sportsmen about the dangers of inadvertantly spreading something like this.
What do we do, if anything, to inspect these boats and boaters who may have just participated in a tournament in Virginia and who now wishes to launch their boats into one of our lakes?
We'd better get a handle on this one real quick. Lets not drag our feet like we did when deciding a course of action towards the milfoil invasion. Lets be proactive shall we?report abuse
Maine Lake Watch of Gardiner, ME
Jul 26, 2007 12:52 PM
Don't let If&W fool you...they are waiting with baited breath for these invasives that they call inevitable. The ONLY way to keep these snots and all the other invasives out of our lakes is to register boats to only the lake they will be used on. Transient boats must have special stickers and those stickers must reflect a much higher registration fee. The Higher fees also must be dedicated solely to invasive prevention and mitigation. Building more launching facilities in the middle of crisis is about as brilliant as their fighting registering boats dedicated to single lakes. Our lakes are facing extinction due to the poor oversite of IF&W. It is time to place oversite into a new division that has more use for our lakes than consumption and aggressive overuse.report abuse
M. Smith of Richmond, ME
Jul 26, 2007 8:04 PM
Right you are Joe Schmoe, Bass fishermen are the greatest threat -zipping around from tournament to tournament.

Many bassers fish within the weeds and others are hauling their baits through the weed.
They are also the greatest culprits when it comes to the dreaded rubberized baits plugging up other species digestive systems.

No sportsmen are going to like this idea but how about an invasive plant sticker for each lake that a motorized watercraft will be utilized on. The proceeds would help fund seasonal inspectors at all launch facilities. Think about all the summer jobs for biology students we could fund.

Inspectors could charge the launcher and issue a sticker jonny on the spot, that is after inspecting the watercraft. No sticker, no launch.

Those who keep their boat on one lake wouldn't pay a dime more than they do now. Those who like to hop about would be expected to pay for all the extra inspections they cause to happen.

Finally, those heading into the north woods land holdings would pay a single user fee at the gates of entry where a single inspector could check all boats going through or coming out. Everybody knows how long it takes the clerk at the gate to check you through. Plenty of time for an outside inspector to do his job.

Which brings me to a real sore spot. Why don't we stop all boats coming into Maine at the Truck Scale facilities before the toll booths to issue the original invasive plants sticker and inspect the boat before it hits our waters. I see hundreds of boats coming into Maine without stickers or registration.

"What a fee windfall that would be."report abuse
Leon Richard of Farmington, ME
Jul 26, 2007 10:41 PM
Well, there I go again... This'll likely get a bunch of panties in a twist but I am going to do it anyway. I won't make a statement, I am simply going to ask a few questions that maybe we can give some consideration in the debate.

1. When has the earth ever existed in a steady state? I mean after the rock state. Since then, it has existed between the extremes. Global warming my south end. It gets warmer and colder... make sure you've got a good air conditioner, a pair of gloves, and a hat. If you live near the ocean and look up alot to see inland, move. You're house is going to be underwater.

2. Every last living creature on this earth, from the lowliest bacteria to man himself, is an invasive species. It's not meant to live here? Well then, I guess like the caribou we won't have to worry about it will we? It'll die right out of the gate anyway.

I like fishing, and would love to preserve things as they are for as long as we can. But the plain fact of the matter is, we don't know that "rock snot" isn't a long absent natural plant in this area that is returning from a hiatus because of the unnaturally cold weather we've been having for the last 50,000 years, do we?

I think it's an interesting issue... and will follow it closelyreport abuse

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