This is the second post in a series that has spun from our recent meeting with Bob Wiltshire, the Executive Director of the Center for Aquatic Nuisance Species in Livingston on Tuesday.

Turns out I had made a mistake that many (or at least some other) angles have – I misjudged the magnitude of the issue with aquatic nuisance species based on what I perceived was an overblown response to Whirling Disease (WD).  Before you fire off an email telling me what an idiot I am, read on a bit.  Living in the West and being a diehard cold-water angler, I was devastated as many were by the initial reports of whirling disease years ago.  Learning about the parasite and the havoc it wreaked on trout populations was heartbreaking.  I did what a lot of guys did – I learned the basics, talked about what a crappy hand some of our favorite fisheries had been dealt, gave some money to organizations mobilizing to educate and intervene, and kept on fishing. 

Turns out many of the waters I fished through the height of the WD uproar continued to fish well and gradually the personal threat to my fishing caused by WD seemed to diminish.  The stories about rivers and fish populations devastated by the disease still caught my eye, but overall the impact of the issue seemed remote.  Some of my fishing friends even began to grouse a bit about the millions of dollars raised that had seemed (in their minds) to have had little impact on the WD issues, and they pointed to several drainages in our area that were in fact coming back “on their own”.  Bottom line, and I’m ashamed to say, my aquatic nuisance species interest and awareness wavered quite a bit – hey, my waters were “OK”, life was busy, my kids were growing up, etc, etc…  Sadly that view is / was not mine alone. 

Meeting with Bob this past week and doing some research on my own, it’s abundantly clear that WD is by far and away not the only aquatic nuisance species to be concerned with – there are plenty that anglers regardless of your fishing passion need to be aware of and concerned about. 

In fact, the more research I’ve done, the more impressed I am that changes are rolling our way as anglers – we can either be proactive and guide the process, or have rules and regulations thrust upon us by agencies that don’t always place recreational water uses at the top of the list. 

Here’s an example that is only weeks old – new regulations have been put in place at Lake Tahoe effective the first of November of this year.  Read the full article here – the bottom line is that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board, concerned with the potential risks associated with quagga and zebra muscles.  Here’s the most interesting twist – before boats can be launched, they have to be inspected at the launch, and can be ordered to undergo additional decontamination procedures before launching.  Inspectors are available between 0600 and 1600, otherwise all private and public boat ramps will be closed by newly installed locking gates.  All vessels are now subject to inspection before launching.  

Zebra muscles have now been found (November 2008) in a small, cold- water, high-mountain lake in central Utah – Electric Lake.  Read the Utah DWR report here.  This one caught lots of folks by surprise. 

What to do?  Prevention is the best medicine in the world of aquatic nuisance species.  Read.  Learn.  Clean your gear.  Take the Clean Angling pledge and stay abreast of current changes coming down the pike.  Tell your fishing buds and have them get on board. 

Tomorrow we’ll look at some other things you can do at the grassroots level to make a difference and preserve your favorite fisheries. 

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