Yes, this is the sad news we've been expecting. Our Green Bay GLS muskie are in direct harms way. The next few months will determine how the GL state agencies will adapt their GLS programs to fit VHS disease policy.
Deadly fish virus in state
Kills in Lake Winnebago system may be just start
The deaths last week of hundreds of sheepshead in Lake Winnebago and Little Lake Butte des Morts signal the presence of a virus responsible for massive fish kills in Lakes Erie and Ontario, a state official said.
In a development that surprised Wisconsin natural resources officials, the virus was confirmed in the water of the Lake Winnebago system of lakes along the Fox River.
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Note the side map of the disease location.
Note the side bar maps and information.
WI – Search for fish virus intensifies
The Department of Natural Resources intends to step up the hunt in other Wisconsin lakes for a deadly fish virus discovered in the Lake Winnebago system.
Lakes in the Madison and Lake Geneva areas are likely targets, in addition to heightened surveillance already begun on Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, said Mike Staggs, director of the DNR's Bureau of Fisheries Management and Habitat Protection.
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This whole VHS deal has alway given me an uncomfotable feeling. You know that feeling you get when you see someone on a ladder about to fall but you know there's no way you can get there in time to help so you just have to watch them fall. This is like that but on a much larger scale…
This is one time when I'm sure Wisconsin isn't happy to beat Michigan. I thought Michigan was going to have the second confirmed VHS positive inland lake with Budd. We'll see what the pathologists at MSU turn up from the fish collected. After Winnebago I don't think anyone will be surprised to see this turn up in inland lakes all over.
"Hamilton Reef" said:
Yes, this is the sad news we've been expecting. Our Green Bay GLS muskie are in direct harms way. The next few months will determine how the GL state agencies will adapt their GLS programs to fit VHS disease policy.
Wisonsin abandoned taking eggs from the Lower Fox this year and went back to the original broodstock lake (Long). Hopefully we find that the iodine works on the esocid eggs and we'll be all set.
There is a small positive side to this virus. It seems to blow in and kill fish that are in abundance. It seems Sheepshead are almost always on the death list. No great loss there. It also seems that it leaves strong survivors behind. I talked with Captain Miller last night and he says that the Detroit river is as good this spring as it has ever been. Last years Musky numbers though lower were bigger fish. It looks like this virus will run its course and then become history. I hate to see Muskies die of anything but Nature takes its own course and that course rarely coincides with mans. Mike and Michelle
Yes, we need to see some positive spirit when possible. I can vision VHS running its course throughout the entire Great Lakes and beyond. That done, I am proud of the professional fishery biologist and veterinarian teams nationwide working overtime to solve the VHS challenge. I am confident they will figure out a way to adapt to the new VHS world of fishery management. I predict by year 2008 the state agencies will be back on track with new VHS disease policies, fish culture technologies, and muskie culture back in production. We will then only be one year out of production.
Immunity is a great thing and with a system as prolific as St Clair it will recover. However, unless this ballast water issue is resolved it's just a matter of time until the next disease is dumped into the Great Lakes… maybe it is already there and adapting to fresh water. If we start getting one after another then even a lake like St Clair will start to have problems.
So… sure, St Clair can handle something like VHSv but how about Lake Huron that had a huge pelagic species crash and now VHSv on top of that. How about a 1500 acre inland lake that gets treated for weeds stressing the fish and VHSv comes in and causes a widespread kill.
The dumping of ballast water has got to stop. We are at the point where we have to bleach our boats before going to an inland lake after fishing in st Clair. We will not be going to st clair in 2007. Our starcraft did not see any inland waters after fishing st clair last year without being disinfected. The only lake it will be in this year will be lake Michigan. We will use our little boat for inland lakes. But still in all this Virus has not destroyed the fisheries it has hit. It could possibly wipe out a smaller lake but I doubt it. For instance in all the cases it( seems) fish that are over abundent are the ones knocked off. Macatawa could use a couple million sheepshead knocked off. I dont know if Holland would be able to stand the stink though. The big picture looks like nature is thinning out the herd and in some places it is probably a good thing. There was no die off in St clair this year and none in Lake ontario as far as I can tell. I t looks to me like the fisheries behind the virus front have all recovered and are doing fine. I agree that stopping future dumpings by ocean going ships has got to stop before one of them deals us a real nasty killer that turns the great lakes into a rotting cesspool full of dead and dying fish. Polititions on both side of the Isle have done nothing really but make statments and posture. Worthless bass turds all of them. This all could have been stopped 20 years ago. Kingfisher
Dont get me wrong, I think VHS is a serious threat to small inland lakes. I think its going to infect every body of water in the great lakes region big and small and some lakes are going to get hit pretty hard. Think about the Wisconsin guys who have been jumping back and forth over our border fishing Chicagon,smokey and Thousand Island after being on the winnabago chain. Or guys here in Michigan who have fished Lake huron and Sanford or St Clair and Hudson . The biggest threat of this spreading is by folks who dont even know its there. It reminds me of the book by Steven King (The Stand) How the disease spread like wild fire thru an entire country. Muskies have survived BKD , the sores and now VHS. My thanks go out to all the fishery personal working so hard to keep our waters free from this type of crap. Thanks for the updates and I will be watching the shores of lake Michigan for dead fish . Mike and Michelle
"gmochty" said:
Maybe over STOCKING MUSKIES in lakes isn't a good thing? Hmm
Over stocking any species isn't good. Muskies haven't been and will never be over stocked in any body of water. The Michigan DNR has rules that are followed for stocking all species of fish in Michigan. All fish are stocked at a level that will achieve a specific sustained population in a lake.
I dont think we have ever been able to over stock any lakes with Muskies. On the contrary we have always been short on what is considered the right number per acre. Every lake along the lake Michigan shoreline is starving for Predators as Sheeps head numbers are exploding along with carp and Gizzard Shad. There are no Muskies there or any big Pike to keep these trash fish numbers down. Vhs will probably hit those high numbers of trash fish the hardest. It will look like a bad thing at first but really could benefit the sport fishery if trash fish numbers are reduced.Muskies are a minority in every lake where they exist. The die offs have seemed to be relative to numbers meaning that fish that are over populated seem to be the ones doing most of the dying. Lake webster could possibly take it on the chin as the Musky numbers in this lake are very high. Lets hope this doesnt happen. Mike and Michelle
"Kingfisher" said:
Macatawa could use a couple million sheepshead knocked off. I dont know if Holland would be able to stand the stink though. Kingfisher
Macatawa had a huge drum die-off last year. Thousands of drum, many shad, pike, walleye, and muskies all were found dead last year. I thought VHS was there last spring.
Those drum are fun to catch by the way!!!
I wasnt aware of the Macatawa die offs. Was there any proof that it was VHS or just some up river poison run off from the factories??? Big shame to lose any of the few Muskies in Lake Mac. Even worse the loss of Pike from that lake is tremendous. I would venture to guess that Sheeps and Shad were the big numbers dead. Mike and Michelle
FYI on the 2006 Lake Mac fish die-off.
Warmer water killed fish, scientist says
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Thursday, May 18, 2006 The Grand Rapids Press
HOLLAND — Federal officials agree with the state: a fish die-off this spring in Lake Macatawa was caused by a sudden rise in water temperatures, not pollutants or toxins.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency looked into the issue this week at the request of U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland. Life Scientist Pete Jackson of the EPA's Chicago office said his workers reviewed reports and data filed by Michigan officials.
"There were no indications of any outside organisms or toxins in the water that might cause the kill," Jackson said Wednesday.
Jay Wesley, a fish biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said Wednesday the die-off has nearly stopped because waters have cooled in recent days.
"We could still see another fish kill occur because large amounts of nutrients are entering the lake from the run-off of heavy rains," Wesley said.
Nutrients from farm and home fertilizers encourage algae growth that lowers oxygen levels, which could cause more fish to die. Most of the dead fish were larger sheepshead, carp and gizzard shad, which can be affected quickly by low oxygen levels.
Last month, Hope College Professor Graham Peaslee, with the chemistry and geological/environ-mental department, said his records showed the lake temperature was 45 degrees on April 10 and climbed to 62 degrees by April 20.
There are several important and related topics running within this VHSv thread. This is my personal suggestion, but could this thread be limited to the specific VHS topic and new threads started for ballast water discussion, etc. for the larger GL exotics challenge? We have readers and students following this thread for historic timeline of the VHSv and I don't want to see them too distracted with the other side topics. I'm commenting about my own tendency to get distracted as well.
WI – Timing of Opening Fox Locks is Questioned
The discovery of the virus comes as Friends of the Fox is preparing to celebrate the opening of two more locks along the Fox River. It's working to restore the system of 17 locks that run from Lake Winnebago to the Bay of Green Bay.
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"Hamilton Reef" said:
There are several important and related topics running within this VHSv thread. This is my personal suggestion, but could this thread be limited to the specific VHS topic and new threads started for ballast water discussion, etc. for the larger GL exotics challenge? We have readers and students following this thread for historic timeline of the VHSv and I don't want to see them too distracted with the other side topics. I'm commenting about my own tendency to get distracted as well.
Tom,
I'll split topics as needed as I did splitting this VHSv in Wisconsin topic out of the main VHSv discussion. If you think we get off on a tangent and need to move the discussion to another thread let me know and we'll do that.
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