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Updated 2/25/11 In Md., felt boots blamed for invasive 'rock snot' By DAVID DISHNEAU Associated Press MONKTON, Md. — As an algae with a gross nickname invades pristine trout streams across the U.S., Maryland is about to become the first state to enforce a ban on a type of footgear the organism uses to hitchhike from stream to stream: felt-soled fishing boots. The state Department of Natural Resources plans to prohibit wading with felt soles starting March 21 to curb the spread of invasive organisms that can get trapped in the damp fibers and carried from one body of water to another. Similar bans will take effect April 1 in Vermont and next year in Alaska, aimed especially at didymo, a type of algae that coats riverbeds with thick mats of yellow-brown vegetation commonly called "rock snot." Maryland fishery regulators say didymo, short for Didymosphenia geminata , can smother aquatic insect larvae such as mayflies, stoneflies and caddis flies that are favored food for...

Ships' ballast tanks getting new rules Invasive species carried in the tanks have threatened many U.S. ecosystems The Associated Press TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - After decades of delay, government officials are beginning to crack down on cargo ships that allow foreign invasive species to hitchhike to U.S. waters, where they have turned ecosystems upside down and caused billions of dollars in economic losses. UC Davis research scientist Marion Wittmann holds a handful of Asian clams removed from the bottom of the lake near South Lake Tahoe, Calif. Government officials are beginning to crack down on cargo ships that allow foreign invasive species to hitchhike to U.S. waters. Organisms as large as adult fish and as small as bacteria lurk in ship ballast tanks, which hold millions of gallons of water and sediments that keep vessels upright in rough seas. When the soupy mixtures are dumped in harbors as freight is taken on, the stowaways often find hospitable surroundings and no natural pre...