Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:42 pm
Fish disease VHS found in Lake Huron
Is Lake Michigan next?
http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news. ... y_id=34719
1-26-2007 By BRIAN MULHERIN Daily News Staff Writer
bmulherin@ludingtondailynews.com 843-1122, ext. 348
Since its sister lake has been infected with the fish disease viral hemorrhagic septicemia, Lake Michigan is now under the microscope of state fisheries officials.
Lake Michigan is now classified as a “VHS Surveillance Management Area.”
Anglers are being asked to disinfect equipment with a bleach solution and are being asked not to move bait between the Great Lakes and inland lakes.
The Department of Natural Resources will step up sampling of walleye, whitefish and emerald shiners to monitor whether the disease has reached Lake Michigan.
Ludington Area Charterboat Association President Jim Fenner said he’s more concerned about the fish population at this point than he is about any perception of the fish being “diseased” by potential customers.
“Obviously we’re concerned because the disease kills fish, it’s not a risk to humans, we know that,” Fenner said.
Fenner said the disease being found in Lake Huron “suggests to me it’s just a short matter of time before they catch it in Lake Michigan.
“We know that we’ve been catching Lake Huron salmon in Lake Michigan over the last several years. It’s too early to tell what the implications are, I guess.”
Salmon anglers and Charter boat customers remember the bad, old days of salmon fishing after fish in Lake Michigan were stricken with bacterial kidney disease or BKD. Fenner said repeating the experience would be a nightmare.
“Just like the BKD in the early 1990s, the BKD cropped off the kings, so our king fishing went to heck for several years before we got a handle on the disease.
“I think the biologists are on top of it this time, more than they were with the BKD.”
Fenner said the source of most invasive species and exotic fish diseases is well-known and still largely uncontrolled.
VHS is a virus that causes disease in fish but does not pose any threat to public health, according to a press release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources announcing the spread of the virus to Lake Huron.
Lake Michigan is now classified as a “VHS Surveillance Management Area.”
Anglers are being asked to disinfect equipment with a bleach solution and are being asked not to move bait between the Great Lakes and inland lakes.
The Department of Natural Resources will step up sampling of walleye, whitefish and emerald shiners to monitor whether the disease has reached Lake Michigan.
Ludington Area Charterboat Association President Jim Fenner said he’s more concerned about the fish population at this point than he is about any perception of the fish being “diseased” by potential customers.
“Obviously we’re concerned because the disease kills fish, it’s not a risk to humans, we know that,” Fenner said.
Fenner said the disease being found in Lake Huron “suggests to me it’s just a short matter of time before they catch it in Lake Michigan.
“We know that we’ve been catching Lake Huron salmon in Lake Michigan over the last several years. It’s too early to tell what the implications are, I guess.”
Salmon anglers and Charter boat customers remember the bad, old days of salmon fishing after fish in Lake Michigan were stricken with bacterial kidney disease or BKD. Fenner said repeating the experience would be a nightmare.
“Just like the BKD in the early 1990s, the BKD cropped off the kings, so our king fishing went to heck for several years before we got a handle on the disease.
“I think the biologists are on top of it this time, more than they were with the BKD.”
Fenner said the source of most invasive species and exotic fish diseases is well-known and still largely uncontrolled.
“We have to find a way to get a handle on the foreign ships bringing these diseases into the great lakes or it’s going to destroy our water economy,” Fenner said.
Carter Koles, president of the Mason County Walleye Association, said he’s not sure what to think. His group raises walleye hatched from Muskegon River brood stock. The walleyes are moved to the Pere Marquette Township ponds by the DNR at a young age, then removed by DNR staffers and transported to lakes in the region when they reach about six inches in size.
If fish in Lake Michigan were to become infected with VHS, Muskegon River walleyes would almost certainly have the disease.
“If anybody raises fish, we will,” Koles said. “Our ponds are basically sterile. Unless they get the disease through the spawning run or birds bring it in through their feet — we don’t bring other fish into our pond, so it wouldn’t be present in our ponds.”
But Koles said the association is in the same boat as everyone else until more is known.
“It seems like it’s pretty serious,” Koles said. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do except sit and wait for the results.”
One glimmer of hope came from the DNR’s press release on the disease spreading — salmon being raised from a weir where VHS was found don’t seem to have VHS.
A number of Chinook salmon observed at the Swan River egg-take station last fall also showed signs of VHS infection, DNR Hatcheries Director Gary Whelan said in the release. A standard fish health inspection that is annually conducted by the DNR Fisheries Division on this key broodstock did document VHS in both female and male fish, including one fish exhibiting clinical signs of VHS. Standard methods for disinfecting the eggs were applied last fall at the egg-take station prior to transfer of the eggs to the state’s hatchery facilities. To date, all lots of Chinook salmon hatched from these eggs and being reared in DNR hatchery facilities have been tested and all are negative for VHS, which is attributable to the disinfection methods that have been employed at all the DNR’s egg-take stations for many years.
“This shows that our standard disinfection procedures, similar to those used on the West Coast where VHS has been found for a long time, were effective in protecting our hatcheries and the fish reared in those hatcheries,” Whelan said.
Is Lake Michigan next?
http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news. ... y_id=34719
1-26-2007 By BRIAN MULHERIN Daily News Staff Writer
bmulherin@ludingtondailynews.com 843-1122, ext. 348
Since its sister lake has been infected with the fish disease viral hemorrhagic septicemia, Lake Michigan is now under the microscope of state fisheries officials.
Lake Michigan is now classified as a “VHS Surveillance Management Area.”
Anglers are being asked to disinfect equipment with a bleach solution and are being asked not to move bait between the Great Lakes and inland lakes.
The Department of Natural Resources will step up sampling of walleye, whitefish and emerald shiners to monitor whether the disease has reached Lake Michigan.
Ludington Area Charterboat Association President Jim Fenner said he’s more concerned about the fish population at this point than he is about any perception of the fish being “diseased” by potential customers.
“Obviously we’re concerned because the disease kills fish, it’s not a risk to humans, we know that,” Fenner said.
Fenner said the disease being found in Lake Huron “suggests to me it’s just a short matter of time before they catch it in Lake Michigan.
“We know that we’ve been catching Lake Huron salmon in Lake Michigan over the last several years. It’s too early to tell what the implications are, I guess.”
Salmon anglers and Charter boat customers remember the bad, old days of salmon fishing after fish in Lake Michigan were stricken with bacterial kidney disease or BKD. Fenner said repeating the experience would be a nightmare.
“Just like the BKD in the early 1990s, the BKD cropped off the kings, so our king fishing went to heck for several years before we got a handle on the disease.
“I think the biologists are on top of it this time, more than they were with the BKD.”
Fenner said the source of most invasive species and exotic fish diseases is well-known and still largely uncontrolled.
VHS is a virus that causes disease in fish but does not pose any threat to public health, according to a press release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources announcing the spread of the virus to Lake Huron.
Lake Michigan is now classified as a “VHS Surveillance Management Area.”
Anglers are being asked to disinfect equipment with a bleach solution and are being asked not to move bait between the Great Lakes and inland lakes.
The Department of Natural Resources will step up sampling of walleye, whitefish and emerald shiners to monitor whether the disease has reached Lake Michigan.
Ludington Area Charterboat Association President Jim Fenner said he’s more concerned about the fish population at this point than he is about any perception of the fish being “diseased” by potential customers.
“Obviously we’re concerned because the disease kills fish, it’s not a risk to humans, we know that,” Fenner said.
Fenner said the disease being found in Lake Huron “suggests to me it’s just a short matter of time before they catch it in Lake Michigan.
“We know that we’ve been catching Lake Huron salmon in Lake Michigan over the last several years. It’s too early to tell what the implications are, I guess.”
Salmon anglers and Charter boat customers remember the bad, old days of salmon fishing after fish in Lake Michigan were stricken with bacterial kidney disease or BKD. Fenner said repeating the experience would be a nightmare.
“Just like the BKD in the early 1990s, the BKD cropped off the kings, so our king fishing went to heck for several years before we got a handle on the disease.
“I think the biologists are on top of it this time, more than they were with the BKD.”
Fenner said the source of most invasive species and exotic fish diseases is well-known and still largely uncontrolled.
“We have to find a way to get a handle on the foreign ships bringing these diseases into the great lakes or it’s going to destroy our water economy,” Fenner said.
Carter Koles, president of the Mason County Walleye Association, said he’s not sure what to think. His group raises walleye hatched from Muskegon River brood stock. The walleyes are moved to the Pere Marquette Township ponds by the DNR at a young age, then removed by DNR staffers and transported to lakes in the region when they reach about six inches in size.
If fish in Lake Michigan were to become infected with VHS, Muskegon River walleyes would almost certainly have the disease.
“If anybody raises fish, we will,” Koles said. “Our ponds are basically sterile. Unless they get the disease through the spawning run or birds bring it in through their feet — we don’t bring other fish into our pond, so it wouldn’t be present in our ponds.”
But Koles said the association is in the same boat as everyone else until more is known.
“It seems like it’s pretty serious,” Koles said. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do except sit and wait for the results.”
One glimmer of hope came from the DNR’s press release on the disease spreading — salmon being raised from a weir where VHS was found don’t seem to have VHS.
A number of Chinook salmon observed at the Swan River egg-take station last fall also showed signs of VHS infection, DNR Hatcheries Director Gary Whelan said in the release. A standard fish health inspection that is annually conducted by the DNR Fisheries Division on this key broodstock did document VHS in both female and male fish, including one fish exhibiting clinical signs of VHS. Standard methods for disinfecting the eggs were applied last fall at the egg-take station prior to transfer of the eggs to the state’s hatchery facilities. To date, all lots of Chinook salmon hatched from these eggs and being reared in DNR hatchery facilities have been tested and all are negative for VHS, which is attributable to the disinfection methods that have been employed at all the DNR’s egg-take stations for many years.
“This shows that our standard disinfection procedures, similar to those used on the West Coast where VHS has been found for a long time, were effective in protecting our hatcheries and the fish reared in those hatcheries,” Whelan said.