VHS

Federal Order On VHS To Restrict Fish Movement

The discovery of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) in the Great Lakes, from Lake St. Clair to the St. Lawrence River, has resulted in a Federal Order to prohibit or restrict the interstate importation or movement of some 37 live fish species in an effort to limit the introduction or dissemination.
Due to these outbreaks of VHS, the administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued this order as a result of the Animal Health Protection Act. This is being issued to help prevent the spread of VHS into aquaculture facilities. Effective immediately, the importation of these fish from the provinces of Ontario and Quebec are prohibited for these 37 species. Prohibited domestic areas include Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
This is serious stuff when it comes down from the Feds, so the state's Department of Environmental Conservation will undoubtedly be putting further restrictions into place. Look for restrictions on bait dealers especially, because some of the fish species on the list include the emerald shiner and blunt nose minnow. There could be more restrictions to deal with, too.
Before we get into this any further, just a quick comment that was made time and time again by DEC Bureau of Fisheries Chief Doug Stang: "VHS poses no risk to human health."
DEC was already taking a more cautious approach when it came to fisheries management and fisheries movements because of VHS. There were some changes to DEC's standard operating procedures in relation to egg-taking, handling and fish transfers from the Salmon River Fish Hatchery.
VHS was first discovered in Lake St. Clair, Michigan in 2003. Since that time, it has been discovered in Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. It was first discovered in the United States in 1988 with spawning salmon in the Pacific Northwest. It has since been found in both wild and hatchery-raised salmon in the Pacific Northwest. All told, nearly 40 different wild fish species - both freshwater and marine - have tested positive for the virus.
"We're not trying to be alarmists," said Stang. "However, we will be taking numerous precautions in our day-to-day operations to help us prevent the inadvertent spread of this virus. We simply don't know enough about it yet."
Some of the actions that will be taken immediately include:
--Suspend the transfer of Chinook salmon/steelhead eggs or fish from Salmon River Fish Hatchery to Caledonia or other hatcheries (including Powder Mill Park);

--Obtain/test pre-spawning adult salmon from Salmon River Fish Hatchery for presence of VHS;

--Disinfect eggs collected from all Pacific salmon, steelhead, lake trout and landlocked Atlantic salmon for 30 - 60 minutes during water hardening process to reduce the risk of vertical (fish to egg) transmission.

--Sample 60 fish per species used for screening Lake Ontario salmonids for routine fish health inspections;

--Review/experiment with cool water species egg disinfection procedures to determine feasibility of disinfection during water hardening.

--Test cool water species (walleye and muskellunge) for presence of VHS and develop an action plan for spring 2007 activities.
"Once we get a couple of years under our belt with the egg purification process, we'll go back to moving eggs to other hatcheries," said Stang. "We're just not comfortable with that process right now. It won't impact us that much for the time being."
One impact will be with the stocking of some 450,000 king salmon that have been reared at the Caledonia Fish Hatchery the last several years. Some stakeholders within the Lake Ontario sportfishery have argued that fish from this hatchery have been giving Western Basin ports a much better survival rate and a greater return through the imprinting process. Plans were underway to fin clip and pen rear Caledonia salmon in Oak Orchard in 2007 and Olcott in 2008.
That program will have to be suspended for the time being, with all salmon now coming from the Salmon River facility.
What could have serious implications down the road is the fact that between 30 and 40 walleye from Conesus Lake in the Finger Lakes tested positive last August. At the same time, Lake Erie and Niagara River emerald shiners also tested positive, along with some blunt nose minnows in the St. Lawrence in September - all through a quick test that was developed through Cornell University. While the Cornell procedure has never been proven wrong, this is still preliminary information and not confirmed officially through the World Organization for Animal Health. Look for restrictions to already be in place by the time you read this, along with possession limits/restrictions on how much bait you can have on your boat if they are the affected minnows or shiners from the Great Lakes. You won't be able to use those baits in non-affected waters, either.
Another consideration is the fact that this puts all our eggs back in one basket as far as salmon and trout for Lake Ontario. It's time we revisit the idea of a fish hatchery facility at the western end of Lake Ontario - something that is currently being proposed in Niagara County. In addition to rearing fish, with a focus on lake trout because of what has been happening with the Allegheny National Fish Hatchery in Pennsylvania, this could also be a research and educational facility. Right now, fish that are being tested for VHS must be shipped all the way to Seattle.