FEDERAL ORDER - VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC SEPTICEMIA (VHS)

Topics concerning muskellunge and fisheries research, diseases, stocking and management.
Hamilton Reef
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FEDERAL ORDER - VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC SEPTICEMIA (VHS)

Post by Hamilton Reef » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:34 pm

This order includes the muskellunge on the list. I knew it was coming, but it is no less heartbreaking.

USDA Shuts Down Live Fish Shipments in the Great Lakes
http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/discuss/ind ... 99#msg6599

FEDERAL ORDER - VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC SEPTICEMIA (VHS)

The purpose of this Federal Order is to prevent the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) into aquaculture facilities. This order is issued pursuant to the Animal Health Protection Act (AHPA). The AHPA authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit or restrict the importation or movement in interstate commerce of any animal, article, or means of conveyance if the Secretary determines that the prohibition or restriction is necessary to prevent the introduction or dissemination of any pest or disease of livestock into or within the United States.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/aqua/pdf/v ... hanges.pdf

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Post by Hamilton Reef » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:50 pm

The full impact of the VHS challenge is not completely understood at this time. There will be more cases of VHS discovered and confirmed. I suspect that if VHS is confirmed throughout the Great Lakes (L Huron & L Michigan are actually one connected basin) then the need for a hard lock on fish transfers may be relax a bit. This is not for us to decide. That hard decision will have to have concensus of all the Great Lakes fishery managers (State, Federal, Canada) and follow protocol.

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Will Schultz
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Post by Will Schultz » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:56 pm

Yep, I knew this was coming too, we're done with our Iowa program.

We can now concentrate on doing what we can to make the facilities at Wolf Lake better.
Self interest is for the past, common interest is for the future.

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Post by Hamilton Reef » Thu Oct 26, 2006 3:54 pm

Note: The ban on transport of fathead minnows from Minnesota and Wisconsin could impact our Wolf Lake Hatchery muskie production.

Federal ban on fish shipments criticized
Steelhead program, bait fish could be hit

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plainde ... xml&coll=2

10/26/06 D'Arcy Egan Plain Dealer Columnist
degan@plaind.com, 216-999-5158

An emergency federal ruling this week could drive up live bait prices and jeopardize Ohio's extremely popular steelhead trout program.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday banned interstate shipments of many live fish from Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Fisheries managers around the Great Lakes are unhappy with the ruling.

The rare emergency edict was implemented, said an APHIS official, to stop Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS), a saltwater virus that found its way into the Great Lakes.

Over the last two years, VHS has been blamed for the deaths of sheepshead in Lake Erie, round gobies in Lake Ontario and muskies in the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair.

The emergency order by APHIS has far-reaching implications.

It prevents Ohio from trading channel catfish with Michigan for steelhead trout, the prime ingredient for Ohio's famous cold-water fishery.

Local bait dealers say it would drive up the price of baitfish, injuring a billion-dollar sport fishing industry, and could put small Ohio tackle shops out of business.

Cleveland-area bait shops get the majority of their emerald shiner minnows from Buffalo, N.Y.

The fathead minnows sold at shops on inland reservoirs are predominantly shipped here from Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to wholesaler Gene Cizmadia of Crawlers Unlimited in Hinckley. Those shipments are now banned under APHIS guidelines.

"This has been simmering for a long time," said Ray Petering, the head of fisheries management for the Ohio Division of Wildlife. "The Great Lakes states have been crying for 15 years about the ballast water of ocean freighters introducing invasive species to the Great Lakes. As of today, APHIS has done nothing.

"Then VHS shows up for a couple of months, and wham, we get a federal order and can't move live fish within the Great Lakes states."

Great Lakes fisheries managers had asked APHIS to remain on the sidelines as the Great Lakes Fisheries Health Committee studied the VHS problem, said Petering. The ban announced Monday surprised officials and the fishing tackle industry. Ohio officials are scrambling to figure out how to maintain the steelhead trout fishery.

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Won't work

Post by Heavyhound » Thu Oct 26, 2006 6:03 pm

Can anyone give an example where these types of bans have actually worked? Once in the ecosystem spread is almost inventible (see the Zebra Mussel). I really believe that this ban will accomplish little but to disrupt stocking efforts and bait sales.
Muskies are cruel, hateful fish put on this earth to shame me.

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Will Schultz
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Post by Will Schultz » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:51 pm

From my limited understanding, pathogens (Whirling Disease, BKD, Muskie Pox, VHS) are easier to contain than things like Zebra Mussels, Milfoil, etc. In a wide open ecosystem like the Great Lakes the systems have proven that they can overcome these types of problems. However, something like VHS could destroy an inland lake. If allowed to infect a hatchery or bait farm they may never overcome the problem.

As anglers we need to take precautions as well with livewells, bilge water, nets, etc. Bleach or chlorine works to keep these things clean and keep us from passing pathogens. If you net fish in St Clair spray your net with a 1:1 bleach/water mix.
Self interest is for the past, common interest is for the future.

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Post by Heavyhound » Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:06 pm

I'll do my part, I'm just a pessimist about containing stuff like this. I hope you're right and it's easier to keep under control.
Muskies are cruel, hateful fish put on this earth to shame me.

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Post by Cyberlunge » Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:14 pm

HH-

The good news is that there are success stories involving viral infections where they have won the battle. The whirling disease epidemic was overcome through some very drastic measures, these were necessary becasue it got into the hatcheries. It is essential for containment to avoid infection in the hatchery chain and from inland lakes. If it gets into a closed system it could not only destroy the system but become a highly condensed incubator for the spread of the disease. It would not be long before the contamination hopped from lake to lake and lake... you get the idea. The problem I have is where is the media coverage?? where is the benefit that the could be done by educating people?? Pisses me off that because it is just fish it warrants no coverage.
KK
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Post by Hamilton Reef » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:26 pm

Lakes hit by deadly virus

http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/i ... thispage=1

Friday, October 27, 2006 By Jeff Alexander CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
A federal order designed to prevent the spread of a fatal fish virus in the Great Lakes could increase the cost of live bait, cripple commercial fish farms and take a bite out of the region's $4.5 billion sport fishery.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, issued an emergency order this week banning the interstate shipments of 37 species of live fish between the eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

The order was aimed at preventing the spread of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia, or VHS, a saltwater virus that showed up in parts of the Great Lakes last year. The virus, suspected of being imported to the Great Lakes in the ballast water of ocean freighters, has caused die-offs of 14 fish species in Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, according to federal officials.

Fish managers said the virus likely will spread to Lake Michigan and Lake Superior and eventually kill a portion of many species of fish, including trout and salmon. The virus does not affect humans, according to state officials.

"We're going to see more dead fish because of this," said Gary Whelan, fish production manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He said, "it's just a matter of time" before the virus spreads to Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.

Federal officials said preventing shipments of live fish across state lines and international borders in the Great Lakes basin would halt the spread of the virus to private and government-owned fish hatcheries.

Fish managers said the rule will hurt bait dealers, anglers and fish hatcheries -- private and government-owned -- that distribute trout, steelhead and other species across the Great Lakes basin.

"It's going to drive up bait prices and it's going to put some people out of business," said Gary Studt, owner of Wendel's Wholesale Bait and Tackle, a live bait wholesaler near Ionia. "I can almost guarantee there are going to be bait shortages."

The order could disrupt Michigan's fish hatchery program by next spring, Whelan said. Michigan, for example, raises steelhead for the state of Ohio in exchange for channel catfish; the federal order immediately banned that exchange of live fish for the foreseeable future.

Halting the interstate transfer of live fish could hurt the $4.5 billion Great Lakes sport fishery, much of which is supported by salmon and other fish raised at hatcheries in Michigan.

"This will certainly have an impact on people who raise fish in Michigan," Whelan said. "It's unclear what it will mean for (the state's) hatchery system."

Chris Weeks, president of the Michigan Aquaculture Association, said the federal order will be financially devastating for people who raise trout and other fish to sell to restaurants and food brokers in neighboring states.

"We have growers in this state who will be severely impacted by this rule," Weeks said.

The VHS virus found in the Great Lakes last year is a new strain of the saltwater virus, according to federal officials. The virus causes bloating in fish, lesions and bleeding from the eyes and gills; it is transmitted from fish to fish.

VHS has not been detected in any aquaculture facilities in the Great Lakes basin, according to federal records. The source of VHS in the Great Lakes is not known, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture records.

Some Great Lakes fish managers believe the deadly fish virus was imported here in the ballast water of ocean freighters from Europe or Asia.

"VHS probably came into the lakes from ballast water. I think that's the likely vector, given the way the virus has skipped around the lakes," Whelan said.

Over the past 50 years, ocean freighters have imported many of the 180 exotic species now living in the Great Lakes, including the zebra and quagga mussels.

Under a 1993 federal law, ocean ships must exchange ballast water in the Atlantic Ocean before entering the Great Lakes system. Open-water exchange of ballast water is supposed to kill any organisms living in the ballast tanks of freighters.

But most ocean freighters enter the Great Lakes loaded with cargo and no ballast water, which is used to stabilize empty ships. A recent study found that ships entering the lakes with empty ballast tanks still carry millions of live organisms, including deadly bacteria and other pathogens, that could accidentally be discharged into the Great Lakes.

Ray Petering, the head of fisheries management for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said federal officials have done little to halt the introduction of exotic species into the Great Lakes.

"The Great Lakes states have been crying for 15 years about the ballast water of ocean freighters introducing invasive species to the Great Lakes. As of today, APHIS has done nothing," Petering told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "Then VHS shows up for a couple of months, and wham, we get a federal order and can't move live fish within the Great Lakes states."

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Post by Hamilton Reef » Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:55 pm

Great Lakes fish hauling stopped to combat virus

The transport ban covers live fish of 37 species, but the agency said it reserves the right to add any other species that test positive for the disease. The agency said it is not known how the disease got into the Great Lakes or how long it has been present.

Jim Rogers, an agency spokesman, said the transport ban was issued "just to hold this until we can go through rule-making."

He added that "a lot can be decided next week, and a lot can be modified in the order even before rule-making." However, the spokesman stressed, "whenever you see a federal order you can assume a sense of urgency."

Mr. Tyson also said the order affects the state's muskellunge-rearing program. "A lot of the shiners we use in the hatching program for grow-up are from Minnesota."

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 45/-1/NEWS

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Iowa

Post by Kingfisher » Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:55 pm

I dont think Iowa is included in the Ban. We cant ship them anything but we can still get clean fish from them. I was told this could be true by the owners of the Minnesota Musky farm. The Minnesota Musky farm has thousands of fall fingerlings both northern and spotted strains in ponds and cant move them. I want to drive over there and rescue the little critters. Kingfisher

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Re: Iowa

Post by Will Schultz » Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:33 pm

Kingfisher wrote:I dont think Iowa is included in the Ban. We cant ship them anything but we can still get clean fish from them. I was told this could be true by the owners of the Minnesota Musky farm. The Minnesota Musky farm has thousands of fall fingerlings both northern and spotted strains in ponds and cant move them. I want to drive over there and rescue the little critters. Kingfisher
Before the Federal ban the Michigan DNR put a stop to any interstate transfers. The Iowa fish we were going to bring over earlier in the month had to have special permission and needed a clean bill of health from the pathologist at Michigan State.

Right now we're better off letting the Iowa program dissolve and focusing our effort/money on making Michigan production better.
Self interest is for the past, common interest is for the future.

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Iowa fish

Post by Kingfisher » Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:00 pm

Thats what the Minnesota folks said. they could be moved if they get a clean bill of health. I wasnt aware that Michigan had blocked from this end. The federal order is for 8 states and provinces around the great lakes. Minnesota is frozen and cant move anything. They could lose their entire crop of fall fingerlings. Mike

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Post by Hamilton Reef » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:38 pm

Fish farms face crippling federal ban on shipping

http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/in...560.xml&coll=6

Wednesday, November 01, 2006 By Rob Kirkbride
The Grand Rapids Press rkirkbride@grpress.com

When Dan Vogler was asked to attend a meeting in Washington, D.C., aimed at stopping the spread of a fish-killing virus, he didn't know it was his business that could go belly-up.

"Last week, we were moving ahead and having meetings and discussing what we could bring to the table," said Vogler, whose Harrietta Hills Trout Farm west of Cadillac hatches more than 400,000 fish a year.

"We woke up to find out that there was an interstate ban on our fish."

Last week's emergency federal order forbids shipping live fish from Michigan and seven other Great Lakes states. This week's meeting was scheduled to discuss ways to stop the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia in fish.

The ban is hurting Michigan's aquaculture industry.

Although small and fragmented, fish farming is a growing business. Aquaculture sales in Michigan increased from $2.03 million in 1998 to $2.4 million in 2005, an 18 percent increase, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The ban also could hurt Michigan anglers. Bait minnows, many of which are shipped from out of state, could be in short supply.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service -- the same government agency that monitors the country for bird flu -- issued the order last week banning the interstate movement of 37 fish species.

The ban includes rainbow trout, grown on Vogler's farm. It also covers perch and bass.

The virus appears to have spread to the Great Lakes through ballast water brought in by freighters. It is believed to have caused a large die-off in the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River last spring. The fear is lakes Huron and Michigan also could see large fish kills.

The virus does not affect humans and cannot be contracted by eating fish.

Fish farmers aren't the only ones surprised by the federal ban. Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials were not consulted, spokeswoman Ann Wilson said.

"This caught everybody involved off guard," said Wilson, adding the DNR is reviewing the order's legality.

Dave Yonkman, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, said no one has contacted the congressman seeking intervention against the ban.

Jim Rogers, spokesman for the agency that issued the ban, said the government reacted quickly when it found the virus could spread to a larger number of fish species than previously thought.

"It's not our goal to close markets," he said. "It is our goal to protect markets."

That's little solace to Vogler, who said he has to decide "whether my family can buy a gallon of milk for the table this week."

Harrietta Hills Trout Farm grows fish used to stock ponds and rivers and trout that will end up on the dinner plate. Last year it shipped 125,000 pounds of fish.

"We ship 70 percent of our production outside the state. You do the math," said Vogler, adding he can't understand why fish farms are being targeted when none has been found with the virus.

"As of last Tuesday, we're out of business, so we need a solution," Vogler said, adding he would like to contribute to the discussion. "But they've got to take the tourniquet off my neck before I can talk."

Stoney Creek Fisheries in Grant lucked out.

It received a shipment of black crappie from out of state the day before the ban took effect, said Sam Plottel, general manager of fisheries.

Most of Stoney Creek's fish are used to stock ponds with perch, bluegills, catfish, bass and trout. The company also sells pond supplies, such as pumps, filters and liners.

"Man, talk about getting in under the wire," he said. "Many others were not as fortunate as we were. We hope they come up with a plan that makes everybody happy."

It is unclear how long the ban will hold. Environmentalists support the effort, but hope for a better solution soon.

"This is a reasonable first step," said Hugh McDiarmid Jr., communications director at the Michigan Environmental Council. "But we would hate to see the bait dealers and fish factories stuck this way for a long time."

Fish farmers say the clock already is ticking.

"If this drags on into a matter of months, we're dead (as an industry)," Vogler said. "It's a total disaster and it's totally unnecessary."

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Post by Hamilton Reef » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:58 pm

Will wrote: "Right now we're better off letting the Iowa program dissolve and focusing our effort/money on making Michigan production better."

The Iowa program was a great success and the MAA-IDNR-MDNR working bond of respect is still there. Thus, should conditions change in a few years or a special need come up the Iowa program can be revisited.

My short term concern is the instate forage production to make up for fatheads that were imported to feed the state muskies. This is something that sport fishing clubs may be able to help with. We can discuss this more in a separate forge topic.

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