Integral to the Check, Clean Dry campaign to prevent the spread of aquatic weeds, Didymo Dave Cade replaced the hose yet again at Tokaanu Boat Ramp. Photo / Supplied
For want of a hose a trophy fishery is at stake.
The hose at the Tokaanu Boat Ramp keeps going missing. A replacement hose was installed last week and local ecologist Cam Speedy says he has replaced at least half a dozen hoses over the past few years.
Cam says, by and large, those retrieving a boat at the Tokaanu Boat Ramp do an outstanding job of washing down their boat when a hose is present.
"But obviously they can't wash their boat when the hose isn't there."
However, local Clean Check Dry advocate Didymo Dave Cade says many people don't realise there is more at stake than washing the gunge off a boat.
"Lake Otamangakau is a trophy trout fishery. If weed gets in there then it is the end of a huge contributor to the local economy. People travel from all over New Zealand to fish there, they stay locally, fill up their cars and spend money at the shops."
Historically the lake bottom at Tokaanu was sand and gravel, with Cam saying it was like this within living memory of mana whenua. Currently there is 150 hectares of shallow weed bed at Tokaanu, mainly hornwort and oxygen weed, aquarium weeds that have thrived after being carelessly discarded into natural waterways and then spread by human activities like boating and fishing.
"Aquatic weeds fundamentally change the ecology of our fresh water lakes and this impacts on native species found."
Hornwort is one of the worst aquatic weeds in New Zealand and is incredibly easy to transmit from one water body to another.
"When the hose is missing, the risk of taking an unwanted hitchhiker to another lake is huge," says Cam.
Not reporting a missing hose is common, and Didymo Dave says he finds it frustrating when he goes to the boat ramp and people come up to him and say 'oh that was missing 10 days ago'.
"That's 10 days the Lake Otamangakau fishery was at stake, and all the other freshwater bodies around here and potentially throughout New Zealand."
Both say for want of a hose, aquatic pests are being shipped from one waterway to another.
"It's an ecological disaster in the making. People don't realise what we are losing," says Cam.
He says another bugbear is contractors and ute owners using the high pressure hoses at Tokaanu Boat Ramp to clean their vehicles.
"All the muck from their vehicles goes into the lake. Spray residue, diesel and other contaminants."
He hopes a recent prosecution by Waikato Regional Council will put people off using the Tokaanu boat ramp as a vehicle cleaning facility.
Suspecting inattention is the main culprit, both Dave and Cam would like to raise awareness among boat ramp users.
1) Prevent the spread of aquatic weeds. Check, Clean, Dry.
2) Check you have properly hung up the hose after you have washed your boat.
3) If you notice the hose is missing then alert the one of the agencies: DoC, Waikato Regional Council, Genesis or Didymo Dave Cade on 027 240 9603 so a replacement can be arranged without delay.
4) Make other arrangements for cleaning of commercial vehicles or utes.
The Rotorua law student who authored it says the support was 'overwhelming but inspiring'.