Didymo and Felt Soles in New Zealand – the facts - Bish on Fish in New Zealand Blog

As of today (Wed 27/8/08) there is no ban on felt-soled wading boots in New Zealand.

A ban has been proposed to aid in the fight against the spread of Didymo (rock-snot), and the Minister of Conservation has agreed in principle, but the ban has not yet become law, nor have any regulations been posted.

There is considerable and growing resistance to the ban, and in no particular order, that resistance is based on the following:

While it is accepted that felt soles are potentially a high-risk carrier of Didymo from river to river, other articles of fishing clothing can be equally problematic – ie socks and shorts worn when ‘wet wading’, laces on boots, under stone-guard flaps on waders, wet line on a reel - the list goes on.
Water craft, especially jet boats and kayaks, pose a significantly greater risk, as they can carry Didymo in water not fully drained from the craft. Kayaks can also carry Didymo on their clothing and equipment. Jet boat trailers backed into the water for boat retrieval and launching are also high risk. (Didymo is present in rivers where there is no fishing - waters used only by jet boaters and kayakers.)
There is a concern that if anglers are singled out the impression may be fostered that anglers are to blame and therefore all other river users need not worry about the problem and cease taking preventative measures. For instance trampers and hunters who wade rivers and streams.
The cost to anglers of this ban from the need to replace felt-soled with alternatives is onerous and would be put in place in just a few weeks if a ban was implemented before the opening of the new season - 1 Oct 2008. (In the South Island at least). With reasonable quality boots ranging from NZ$150 up, the cost is not insignificant.
There is a danger worry. The alternatives to felt soles provide significantly less slip-resistance to any other sole, including studs and the relatively new ‘sticky soles’. This concern is amplified in rivers with algae covered smooth rocks – a common occurrence.
As a generalisation the resistance is based on the notion that all the above points would lead to the view that a felt sole ban is only tinkering with the problem, and unfairly singling out anglers.

As for me, I have a great deal of sympathy for any measures to prevent the spread of this thoroughly obnoxious pest, but these measures must cover all high-risk river users in equal measure.

(Footnote: I was given a pair of Aqua Stealth soled boots with studs to trial in late March this year, and as it was still Summer the rocks and boulders were covered with slime. How good were the boots in preventing sipping and sliding? Let me just say if I was to be observed by a selector for the ice-skating team to the next Winter Olympics I would be a shoe-in.)