Dangerous Algae
Found in White River

A dangerous invasive algae nicknamed "rock snot" has been found at three locations in the White River: in Bethel, Royalton, Bethel, and Stockbridge, it was learned yesterday.

The algae Didymosphenia geminata, nicknamed didymo, (pronounced "DID-ee-mo," is very bad news, fish biologists said this week.

Didymo coats the rocks on the bottoms of clean, fast-running rivers and eventually creates thick brown mats that cover the river bottom and kill the insect life. That eventually destroys most fish, including trout, because they live on the insects.

A fishing guide, Lawton Weber, last week discovered large patches of didymo in the northern Connecticut River in Bloomfield, Vt., and state biologists confirmed its presence.

State wildlife sources also confirmed that it has turned up at the three locations on the main stem of the White River, according to Mary Russ of the White River Partnership.

In Bloomfield, Weber told reporter Dennis Jensen of the Rutland Herald, didymo "was on almost every rock, in small patches." He said he recognized it from travels in New Zealand, where it is prevalent.

He considers the threat to fish from Didymo is greater than both milfoil and Lake Champlain sea lampreys.

Little could be confirmed this week about the discoveries of algae in the White River. One patch was reportedly found by a fisherman just below the mouth of Cleveland Brook, which is upstream from Bethel and just downstream from Locust Creek.

The invasive algae orginally was found in Europe and China in the 19th century. In North America it has been discovered in Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Quebec but not previously in New England. Like milfoil, it can be carried from one body of water to another by attaching to boats.

Within a river system, Weber said, it also can be spread by the felt soles and the neoprene parts in a fisherman’s waders, as well as fly reels. He recommended that all fishermen soak and scrub all waders and equipments in a 5% solution of dishwater solution and hot water.

Responding to the discoveries in Bloomfield and in the White, Vermont biologists will meet Friday to discuss a strategy. Russ of the White River Partnership said she has been invited to that meeting.