|
|
| Deadly fish virus found in Little Lake Butte des Morts; Menasha lock closed
The Post-Crescent
The state Department of Natural Resources announced Saturday that two fish from Little Lake Butte des Morts have preliminarily tested positive for a deadly fish virus called viral hermorrhagic septicemia, or VHS.
Additional dead fish samples taken from Lake Winnebago also appear to have the virus. Little Lake Butte des Morts is part of the lower Fox River that flows from Lake Winnebago to the bay of Green Bay. The Lake Winnebago System is home to the state's unique sturgeon population.
Though VHS is not a health threat for people who eat or handle fish infected with the virus, it can infect more than 25 game fish, panfish and bait fish species.
Fish managers met Saturday to implement immediate steps to deal with the infection and limit its spread. The state Department of Natural Resources asked the Fox Locks Authority to close the Menasha lock immediately and to keep it closed until more information about the spread of the disease could be confirmed.
Boaters can expected to be turned back from the lock starting today. In addition, the DNR began the process of posting all boat launches with actions boaters should take to avoid spreading the disease.
“This is a major fish health crisis,” DNR Fisheries Director Mike Staggs said ion a press release. “We have to take aggressive steps now and enlist the help of the public to stop this spread.”
Staggs offered practical advice to anglers.
“Do not take live fish (including unused bait minnows) away from the landing or shore. Drain all water from bilges, bait buckets, live wells and other containers when leaving the landing or shore,” he said in the release.
State fish managers had suspected VHS to be present in Lake Michigan and possibly in Lake Superior and in the Mississippi River. This would be the first infection to be confirmed in Wisconsin inland waters, the DNR said.
Wisconsin recently enacted emergency rules for boaters, anglers and people who harvest wild bait to prevent the spread of VHS in inland waters.
On May 11, the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab informed the DNR that two samples of freshwater drum (commonly known as sheepshead) taken from Little Lake Butte des Morts on May 2 had tested positive for VHS. The samples have been sent to a federal lab for confirmation.
The fish were collected by DNR fisheries staff during muskellunge spawning netting and were submitted for testing because they had shown external signs of VHS.
Since that time, the DNR has been receiving reports of hundreds of sheepshead dying on Lake Winnebago. On Wednesday and Thursday, samples of those dead fish were sent to the WVDL for testing.
A visual inspection of the Lake Winnebago fish by the DNR’s certified fish health inspector showed the same external signs of VHS as the Little Lake Butte des Morts fish.
The DNR staff that collected the fish on Little Lake Butte des Morts reporting seeing dead and dying sheepshead washing over the dam separating that water from Lake Winnebago.
Because the virus can infect so many different ages and species of fish, VHS could spread more quickly in inland lakes, which are much smaller than the Great Lakes, potentially devastating fish populations and fishing opportunities.
Walleye, spotted musky, yellow perch, bluegill and northern pike all are susceptible to the virus, as are common bait species such as emerald and spot-tail shiners, the DNR said.
|
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 2393
Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | This is tragic news for a water system that we all love.
I hope that it is a wake up call for further development of the lock system joining Green Bay. |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 1406
| This is a nightmare!!!!!!!!! |
|
| |
|
| If this is real our great fishery is on track to be a dead pool.  |
|
| |
|
| Why did Gov. Dolye not let the locks be seal shut three years ago. We might not be facing this problem today. |
|
| |
|
| I think it's a little too late for closing the locks...actually the sea freighters are the real problem.....sooner or later the exotics get in the bago system...don't we remember the zebra mussels....we all to forgot about them. It was only a matter of time. Too bad a great fishey has to die a slow agonizing death.... |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 2300
Location: Berlin | I have seen this, dead and dying sheephead all over. Not good. |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 1314
Location: Menasha, WI | After I got off the water yesterday, I was telling my wife how strange it was that I didn't catch a single sheephead. I thought I was just lucky but it appears there may be a pretty serious problem. Sure casts a shadow on what was a great morning fishing
Here's more of what the DNR has to say..
It can kill many other fish species in the chain of lakes, even threatening the population of ancient sturgeon that thrive there, said Sue Marcquenski, fish health specialist with the state Department of Natural Resources.
"Our main concern is that this virus has caused infections in so many other species, too, from bass to perch to muskies, northern pike, walleyes and shad," she said. "In the next one, two or three summers, we could lose much of those fish in the Winnebago system."
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=604843
Edited by Viking 5/13/2007 8:23 AM
|
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 885
| I noticed last Thursday how odd it was that I kept seeing Sheephead floundering everywhere I was on Bago. I especially noticed it in the river in Menasha where I had launched my boat. None of the fish had any external signs and they just looked like they were sick and staying near the surface of the water.
I did not see any other species of fish dieing that day. When I mentioned this to a couple other people that fish Bago, they said it was probable just guys killing them after they were hooked... boy were they wrong.
Are there any additional resources that I can research on what this might mean to the fishing on Bago this summer and how it has affected other bodies of water?
Purple Skeeter
|
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 885
| Here's a pick of a Walleye reported to be caught on Poygan... from Lake-link.com/Winnebago link.
Edited by Purple Skeeter 5/13/2007 11:55 AM
(596c85e0b3bd96af07a0db49b95a5375[1].jpg)
Attachments
----------------
 596c85e0b3bd96af07a0db49b95a5375[1].jpg (43KB - 133 downloads)
|
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 859
Location: Appleton wi | From the pictures i saw this spring at a dnr meeting this pic does not look like the vhs disease. |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 885
| Here's a pick from the DNR... They kinda look the same, but without both fish side by side and a degree in Biology, who could tell.
Purple Skeeter
Attachments
----------------
vhsexternalhem[1].jpg (17KB - 126 downloads)
|
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 1406
| Walleyes for Tomorrow is expected to be one of several groups at Saturdays event in Appleton protesting the future opening of the Fox River lock system.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO!!!!!!!!!Lets act as one group no matter who you blame, Opening the Locks is not a good thing.
http://www.friendsofthefox.org/
Where: Appleton Lock #2 CBC Parking Lot, Olde Oneida Street, Adjacent to Lock #2 Appleton, WI
When: Saturday May 19th , 2007 1 P.M to 4:00 P.M.
Good Luck Tyee
|
|
| |
|
| I to have seen alot of sheephead and whitebass dead the past two weeks,but most have been on bago.I have not seen any fish with these spots but will be watching at our tournament this weekend.It is a real shame!!!!!!!
Tight Lines,
TODD |
|
| |
