Fish-Stocking Freeze in Place in the State - Outdoornews.com
Posted on May 31, 2007
By Kevin Naze
Madison ~ One of the things that bothers fisheries personnel is how little they really know about viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS), and that lack of knowledge led to an immediate freeze on stocking fish.
'I don't know what to say,' said Mike Donofrio, DNR Green Bay basin team supervisor in Peshtigo. 'You always have a concern, but until it's expressed in the (fish), you don't know what the impact will be.'
Another unknown - at least as of last week - is whether or not fish in the Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery may have been inadvertently exposed to VHS from eggs taken from Lake Puckaway walleyes and northern pike. Some Puckaway fish apparently were submitted for testing recently, and as of late last week, the DNR was still trying to decide whether or not some chinook salmon may have been exposed at the hatchery, if indeed Puckaway has some VHS positives.
DNR Fisheries Director Mike Staggs is heading up a VHS response team of 14 DNR staffers charged with compiling information and developing recommendations. He and his crew were expected to make some decisions regarding fish stocking by Memorial Day weekend.
Chinook salmon are beginning to smolt - a time when fingerlings need to imprint on tributaries and be released - but there was a state stocking freeze while assessments continue into the health of stocks. An exception was made for lake trout, which are stocked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Staggs said even if VHS is present in Lake Michigan, the state would not stock infected fish.
'We wouldn't want to potentially introduce it to another area or increase its frequency,' he said.
While brood stock chinooks and brown trout were tested for VHS last fall, and eggs are dipped in an iodine-type solution to disinfect them, the DNR was investigating whether or not there was any chance of contact by water or equipment with potentially infected eggs at Wild Rose.
Staggs said since the chinooks were ready to smolt last week and tests to ensure they're free of VHS take nearly a month, some - perhaps many - may have to be destroyed unless fisheries officials are extremely confident they weren't infected.
'We have fish from other sources we know are clean, and perhaps would reallocate stocking in some areas,' Staggs said. 'Right now, I just don't know.'
While VHS in a state hatchery would be a costly blow, fifth-generation commercial fisherman Mark Maricque, of Green Bay, said too many people are pushing the panic button over VHS in state waters.
'It's way too early to cry, ‘The sky is falling,' ' Maricque said. 'Let's not overreact. Who knows? It might not affect us all that much.'
Matt Straw, of In-Fisherman magazine, was in Door County recently for a bass tournament. He said he's more concerned about federal policy allowing the dumping of sewage into lakes and streams than he is about VHS.
'These outbreaks occur when fish are stressed,' Straw said. 'It doesn't change the fact that the majority are going to be fine as long as they have food and their environment isn't being compromised by something.'
Fran Barbeau, of Fathead Fran's on Velp Avenue in Howard, said VHS has created confusion among anglers.
'One guy even thought he couldn't take fish off the lake,' Barbeau said. 'I said, ‘That's no live fish.' '
Benjamin Gollon, of Gollon Brothers, a wholesale bait dealer in Stevens Point, expects minnow costs to rise 50 to 100 percent due to additional testing now required. His business trucks more than a million minnows in a week's time.
Brian Frerk, of Green Bay, an avid Lake Michigan angler, said he wants to see some legislative movement on the federal level in regard to oceangoing ships.
'They absolutely have to do something with the dumping of ballast water,' Frerk said. 'We've known about it for a long time. It's bringing in all these invasive species and nobody is willing to do anything about it.'
VHS timeline - Wisconsin
The DNR has been tracking VHS and testing fish in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior for the disease since the fall of 2005.
After the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) established a federal order prohibiting importation of 37 species of live fish from two Canadian provinces and the interstate movement of the same species from the eight states bordering the Great Lakes, the Wisconsin DNR stepped up response planning.
The federal order was established Oct. 24, 2006. It was amended Nov. 14 to allow the interstate movement of VHS-susceptible live species of fish under certain conditions. More recently, on May 4, APHIS revised the federal order to allow for catch-and-release fishing.
April 4: The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board adopted emergency rules proposed by the DNR requiring that boaters, anglers, people who harvest wild bait, and others not move water or live fish from waters suspected of having VHS - Lake Michigan, Green Bay, Lake Superior, the Mississippi River, and their tributaries up to the first dam or fish barrier.
April 7: The emergency rules took effect; the DNR says it's in the educational phase rather than citation-issuing phase.
Late April: Fish with VHS symptoms were reported by anglers at Lake Winnebago-area bait shops and on Internet fishing message boards.
May 2: DNR staff collected two freshwater drum from Little Lake Butte des Morts while doing muskie assessment work. The fish had external signs of VHS. Staff reports were of dead and dying drum washing over the dam into Lake Winnebago.
May 9-10: The DNR received reports of hundreds of drum dying on Lake Winnebago. Samples were collected for testing.
May 11: The May 2 samples tested presumptive-positive for VHS.
May 16: DNR Secretary Scott Hassett and Fisheries Director Mike Staggs talked with reporters in a telephone conference; Staggs says he's assembled a VHS response team to develop recommendations for DNR administration. Until assessment is completed, Staggs said the DNR will suspend stocking of fish, transfers of fish among hatcheries, collections of forage fish or eggs from the wild, and field fish transfers.
May 17: The state Natural Resources Board added the Lake Winnebago watershed to the emergency rules earlier adopted. Further, under the board's action, if VHS is found outside of the Winnebago system, the rules will go into effect statewide. The rules also require that people fishing in those waters use minnows purchased only from state-licensed dealers, or, if harvesting their own minnows, that the bait is used only on the water it is caught in. The NRB also approved a provision that requires bait dealers to have a state permit and tracking system in order to harvest wild bait from any water.
May 18: The DNR announced that the Lake Winnebago drum samples also tested presumptive-positive for VHS.
May 27: An amended VHS emergency rule went into effect.
VHS: fish effects
VHS was discovered in Europe in the mid-20th century. Named in 1963, it originally was a significant disease of farmed rainbow trout. Since its initial discovery, four strains have been identified, including both freshwater and marine strains. VHS, which also has been found in North America, Japan, and Korea, is known as the Egtved virus in Europe.
Signs of VHS differ depending on how far along the infection is. Some fish may show no symptoms at all, while others swim erratically in circles, or a corkscrew pattern. In the acute phase, carriers become lethargic and have darkened skin. Bulging eyes and hemorrhaging - pinpoint or large red patches - often are seen.
In the chronic phase, mortality is low but symptoms are similar, though hemorrhaging may not be seen. Instead, the liver, spleen, and kidneys accumulate fluid and the body becomes bloated. Some infected fish develop anti-bodies and survive. However, after a period of time they may start shedding virus again, and spread the infection to others.
FULL ARTICLE
'I don't know what to say,' said Mike Donofrio, DNR Green Bay basin team supervisor in Peshtigo. 'You always have a concern, but until it's expressed in the (fish), you don't know what the impact will be.'
Another unknown - at least as of last week - is whether or not fish in the Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery may have been inadvertently exposed to VHS from eggs taken from Lake Puckaway walleyes and northern pike. Some Puckaway fish apparently were submitted for testing recently, and as of late last week, the DNR was still trying to decide whether or not some chinook salmon may have been exposed at the hatchery, if indeed Puckaway has some VHS positives.
DNR Fisheries Director Mike Staggs is heading up a VHS response team of 14 DNR staffers charged with compiling information and developing recommendations. He and his crew were expected to make some decisions regarding fish stocking by Memorial Day weekend.
Chinook salmon are beginning to smolt - a time when fingerlings need to imprint on tributaries and be released - but there was a state stocking freeze while assessments continue into the health of stocks. An exception was made for lake trout, which are stocked by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Staggs said even if VHS is present in Lake Michigan, the state would not stock infected fish.
'We wouldn't want to potentially introduce it to another area or increase its frequency,' he said.
While brood stock chinooks and brown trout were tested for VHS last fall, and eggs are dipped in an iodine-type solution to disinfect them, the DNR was investigating whether or not there was any chance of contact by water or equipment with potentially infected eggs at Wild Rose.
Staggs said since the chinooks were ready to smolt last week and tests to ensure they're free of VHS take nearly a month, some - perhaps many - may have to be destroyed unless fisheries officials are extremely confident they weren't infected.
'We have fish from other sources we know are clean, and perhaps would reallocate stocking in some areas,' Staggs said. 'Right now, I just don't know.'
While VHS in a state hatchery would be a costly blow, fifth-generation commercial fisherman Mark Maricque, of Green Bay, said too many people are pushing the panic button over VHS in state waters.
'It's way too early to cry, ‘The sky is falling,' ' Maricque said. 'Let's not overreact. Who knows? It might not affect us all that much.'
Matt Straw, of In-Fisherman magazine, was in Door County recently for a bass tournament. He said he's more concerned about federal policy allowing the dumping of sewage into lakes and streams than he is about VHS.
'These outbreaks occur when fish are stressed,' Straw said. 'It doesn't change the fact that the majority are going to be fine as long as they have food and their environment isn't being compromised by something.'
Fran Barbeau, of Fathead Fran's on Velp Avenue in Howard, said VHS has created confusion among anglers.
'One guy even thought he couldn't take fish off the lake,' Barbeau said. 'I said, ‘That's no live fish.' '
Benjamin Gollon, of Gollon Brothers, a wholesale bait dealer in Stevens Point, expects minnow costs to rise 50 to 100 percent due to additional testing now required. His business trucks more than a million minnows in a week's time.
Brian Frerk, of Green Bay, an avid Lake Michigan angler, said he wants to see some legislative movement on the federal level in regard to oceangoing ships.
'They absolutely have to do something with the dumping of ballast water,' Frerk said. 'We've known about it for a long time. It's bringing in all these invasive species and nobody is willing to do anything about it.'
VHS timeline - Wisconsin
The DNR has been tracking VHS and testing fish in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior for the disease since the fall of 2005.
After the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) established a federal order prohibiting importation of 37 species of live fish from two Canadian provinces and the interstate movement of the same species from the eight states bordering the Great Lakes, the Wisconsin DNR stepped up response planning.
The federal order was established Oct. 24, 2006. It was amended Nov. 14 to allow the interstate movement of VHS-susceptible live species of fish under certain conditions. More recently, on May 4, APHIS revised the federal order to allow for catch-and-release fishing.
April 4: The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board adopted emergency rules proposed by the DNR requiring that boaters, anglers, people who harvest wild bait, and others not move water or live fish from waters suspected of having VHS - Lake Michigan, Green Bay, Lake Superior, the Mississippi River, and their tributaries up to the first dam or fish barrier.
April 7: The emergency rules took effect; the DNR says it's in the educational phase rather than citation-issuing phase.
Late April: Fish with VHS symptoms were reported by anglers at Lake Winnebago-area bait shops and on Internet fishing message boards.
May 2: DNR staff collected two freshwater drum from Little Lake Butte des Morts while doing muskie assessment work. The fish had external signs of VHS. Staff reports were of dead and dying drum washing over the dam into Lake Winnebago.
May 9-10: The DNR received reports of hundreds of drum dying on Lake Winnebago. Samples were collected for testing.
May 11: The May 2 samples tested presumptive-positive for VHS.
May 16: DNR Secretary Scott Hassett and Fisheries Director Mike Staggs talked with reporters in a telephone conference; Staggs says he's assembled a VHS response team to develop recommendations for DNR administration. Until assessment is completed, Staggs said the DNR will suspend stocking of fish, transfers of fish among hatcheries, collections of forage fish or eggs from the wild, and field fish transfers.
May 17: The state Natural Resources Board added the Lake Winnebago watershed to the emergency rules earlier adopted. Further, under the board's action, if VHS is found outside of the Winnebago system, the rules will go into effect statewide. The rules also require that people fishing in those waters use minnows purchased only from state-licensed dealers, or, if harvesting their own minnows, that the bait is used only on the water it is caught in. The NRB also approved a provision that requires bait dealers to have a state permit and tracking system in order to harvest wild bait from any water.
May 18: The DNR announced that the Lake Winnebago drum samples also tested presumptive-positive for VHS.
May 27: An amended VHS emergency rule went into effect.
VHS: fish effects
VHS was discovered in Europe in the mid-20th century. Named in 1963, it originally was a significant disease of farmed rainbow trout. Since its initial discovery, four strains have been identified, including both freshwater and marine strains. VHS, which also has been found in North America, Japan, and Korea, is known as the Egtved virus in Europe.
Signs of VHS differ depending on how far along the infection is. Some fish may show no symptoms at all, while others swim erratically in circles, or a corkscrew pattern. In the acute phase, carriers become lethargic and have darkened skin. Bulging eyes and hemorrhaging - pinpoint or large red patches - often are seen.
In the chronic phase, mortality is low but symptoms are similar, though hemorrhaging may not be seen. Instead, the liver, spleen, and kidneys accumulate fluid and the body becomes bloated. Some infected fish develop anti-bodies and survive. However, after a period of time they may start shedding virus again, and spread the infection to others.
FULL ARTICLE