Good ol' Didymo. New Zealand is having a pretty tough time with it over the last ten years (although it arrived earlier). I was there for 4 months last year. The prevalence varies river-by-river, region-by-region. A number of environmental factors can also work against it. The north island of NZ doesn't seem to have any significant problem with the 'mo yet. For a long time, the kiwis were convinced that it was their control regime that was keeping the plague constrained to the south island. However, new research seems to indicate that there is something in the volcanic soils of the north island that make their rivers highly toxic to didymo. Many of the south island rivers, however, have completely different rock bases and corresponding chemistry. In some of those rivers, the didymo can get absolutely huge, especially if there is little in the way of heavy winter high-flow events (which blows all the didymo out every year.) New Zealand does have several large runs of Chinook salmon (all introduced) in several of their big glacial rivers and they have noticed that the fry and smolts can have a rough time during the spring/summer as the didymo grows in the slower currents.
Anyway, in terms of control, NZ (and Tasmania - more great brown fishing) have instituted very strict controls on inbound anglers and anyone with "camping/hiking/tramping" equipment. Your gear is unpacked at customs by special bio-hazard staff (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) and they disappear off into a little room where your gear is sprayed down and scrubbed with something that smells distinctly of bleach. At this point, it gets tricky. If they decide your stuff can't be cleaned properly at the airport, then you are not going to see it for probably several weeks... so let's hope your trip is that long, as they don't ship back to Canada! They send it off to a special place where it goes for a little swim in much more serious chemicals baths. This treatment is very hostile to life, not to mention your equipment.
So, if you are planning a trip to NZ (or Tasmania) and you want to avoid some hassles, here are some tips:
- NO FELT SOLES! They're banned as of last year. Kiss your felt boots goodbye, if you show up at the airport with them.
- Boots with cleats will often be confiscated for special cleaning, as the staff of Biosecurity New Zealand don't seem to like the little cracks in between cleat and rubber.
- Reels... this is tricky. Biosecurity wants these things dry as a bone. Believe it or not, water can stay (without evaporating) in your reeled-up line for quite some time, and didymo spores can hide there. Most of the time, the officers will let the reels through. But if they start thinking that your backing is wet (or something along those lines), you will probably end up having to chop the whole thing right there in the airport.
- Flies: generally, just a bad idea to bring these things with you now. Biosecurity has developed a real dislike for them since they don't like going through your fly boxes to confirm that they are clean and dry, so it's up to you and how comfortable you would be watching the officers empty your fly box into the trash.
- Rods, rod holders and cloth wraps: BONE DRY AND SPOTLESS upon entry.
- Waders: very clean and dry, especially around the stitch lines and gators.
Upon re-reading, I realize that I may be making NZ and Tasmania sound like a big hassle, but that's not the case at all. Just show up with very clean gear, felt-free boots with no cleats and make the local shops happy by buying their flies. Our dollar goes a long way down there and I found fly prices quite reasonable. After 4 months in NZ and 2 months in Taz last year, I can honestly say it is totally worth the customs hassle... even with all the didymo, the fishing is still incredible.
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Topic: Rock Snot (Read 1762 times)