Paddleboards, swim kit and fishing gear pose a biosecurity risk – here’s why

Visitors to the Lake District have been unwittingly spreading invasive plants, including New Zealand pigmyweed, from lake to lake on paddleboards, fishing and swimming gear.

Just a tiny fragment of pigmyweed carried on a fishing net, paddleboard or tow float (used by open water swimmers as a safety marker) is enough to spread this species from one freshwater lake to another. Introducing plants and animals to a place they don’t usually inhabit poses a biosecurity risk and could spread disease.