By any name, it’s an ugly mystery that has made its way to the Shuswap.
Didymossphenai geminate, which is commonly known as didymo or rock snot, a freshwater algae has been found at the Adams River at a loading area for rafting and fishing.
This algae has been spreading around the world over the past two decades, causing huge problems in countries like New Zealand where it is several inches thick in the shallows of some lakes and rivers on South Island, says Brian Heise, chair of the Department of Natural Resource Sciences and associate professor of limnology and fisheries at Thompson Rivers University.
“When it’s in large clumpy masses, it looks like toilet paper,” says Heise, noting rock snot is more unsightly than anything else. “It is not poisonous and it doesn’t really have a scent.”
Heise says one idea some scientists hold is that didymo is native to B.C., originating on Vancouver Island, and other northern hemisphere countries like Norway, and has been around for hundreds of years.
Heise has sampled didymo on Crowsnest River, a tributary of the Oldman River in Southern Alberta and popular with flyfishers.
One theory for the spread of the hardy algae is that it travelled the world on the felt-bottomed hip waders worn by some flyfishers – members of the high-end fishing community with a passion for fishing and enough cash to take them to all the prime spots.
Heise says world didymo expert Dr. Max Bothwell, a freshwater ecologist at Nanaimo’s Pacific Biological Station, once believed didymo was invasive but now thinks its presence is based on changes in nutrient levels.
“In other words, we don’t really know,” Heise says. “We thought we did, but we don’t.”
While most algae thrives in high-nutrient areas, didymo works backwards, he says.
“It thrives in low-nutrient areas, it’s a very unusual plant that doesn’t work like most others,” he says. “It’s a bit of an enigma, it’s a strange.”
Research into didymo continues, says Heise, noting he has a particular interest in how it affects insects.
“The message we’re trying to get out is people should just be careful – boats and fishing gear can carry other invasive species,” he says calling for thorough cleaning of equipment before moving to another lake or river.
He warns that whirling disease, a parasite that will kill trout, may not be in B.C. yet, but it’s in Idaho “so it’s not far away.”
A member of the province’s Invasive Species Council of B.C., Heise is pleased Columbia Shuswap Regional District directors voted earlier this month to expand their invasive weed program to include animal species such as zebra mussels.
But there is no pleasure for Heise in the fact the province is not tough on importers of animals.
“There’s no law that says you can’t bring in live fish,” he says, pointing out a 15-cm perch caught in Adams Lake a few years ago had 12 fish in its stomach.
“If perch or bass get into Shuswap Lake, they will hammer the salmon.”
It is however illegal to put fish in any B.C. waters. Neither perch nor bass are native to B.C. and the Ministry of Environment spent some $1.4 million to remove these fish from nine Thompson drainage lakes.
In an effort to prevent a re-occurence, MOE, the British Columbia Wildlife Federation and the federal Department of Fisheries have offered a reward of up to $30,000 leading to the conviction of someone releasing invasive species into area lakes.
A fine of up to $100,000 may be levied for first-time offenders and second-time offenders could be sentenced to up to 12 months in jail.
Anyone who witnesses such activity is encouraged to call the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) line at 1-877-952-7277 (RAPP) or #7277 on the TELUS Mobility Network.
For more information on invasive species, visit www.bcinvasives.ca.
