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Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Natural Resources Commission Approves Resolution
on Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia Control
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission (NRC), at its November meeting last Thursday, issued a resolution that calls for the reversal of a recent decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) that significantly restricts the interstate movement of fish within eight states bordering the Great Lakes, including Michigan.
The emergency federal order issued Oct. 24 by USDA-APHIS prohibits the movement of 37 fish species between the eight Great Lakes states and also prohibits the importation of those species into the U.S. fish from Ontario and Quebec. Intrastate movement of fish is permitted, along with the importation of fish into the Great Lakes region from areas outside the regulated zone. The order was issued to protect aquaculture facilities from the fish disease, viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS). This new disease in the Great Lakes has caused widespread fish kills in sensitive fish species but it is not harmful to humans.
“Although we are very concerned about VHS and its potential spread throughout the Great Lakes region, the federal order will significantly and unnecessarily disrupt fisheries management actions and commerce in Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes Basin,” said Dr. Kelley Smith, DNR Fisheries chief.
The NRC resolution requests the USDA-APHIS to 1) immediately amend the emergency order to allow a) the interstate movement of fish to slaughter facilities in any other state in the U.S. for subsequent human consumption only, so long as such facilities have appropriate waste treatment; b) the interstate movement of fish within the eight prohibited states based on the regulations of the receiving state; c) the interstate movement of fish to any other state in the U.S. provided that the state competent authority for aquatic animal health has certified the originating facility and that the testing program meets the requirements of the receiving state; and d) the movement of fish to research/diagnostic laboratories if the state competent authority for aquatic animal health approves of the movement and approves the facility into which the fish will be moved; and 2) immediately issue a second emergency order that bans the uptake of ballast water in any area of the Great Lakes where VHS has been found.
The resolution further requests the USDA-APHIS to work collaboratively and transparently with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Department of Agriculture in the immediate development of an interim rule to replace the emergency order by March 1, 2007.
“These requests are of critical importance for ensuring that the interim rule is appropriately developed, and to eliminate a significant vector for the rapid transport of VHS throughout the Great Lakes Basin via ballast water” Smith said.
The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural resources for current and future generations. |
