Wis. Agency to Boost Hunt for Fish Virus

MADSION, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources intends to step up the hunt for a deadly fish virus discovered in the Lake Winnebago system, particularly looking in lakes and rivers that attract anglers from long distances, an agency official says.

Mike Staggs, director of the DNR’s Bureau of Fisheries Management and Habitat Protection, said Monday 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. Bodies of water with unexplained fish kills will also be examined, Staggs said.

Crews will also be sent to selected lakes and rivers with electric shocking apparatus to test seemingly healthy fish, he said. The equipment temporarily stuns fish so they can be gathered for study.

Two freshwater drum fish, or sheepshead, from the Little Lake Butte des Morts have preliminarily tested positive for viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS, which causes anemia and hemorrhaging in fish.

The department is also expected to use its emergency rulemaking powers to broaden restrictions on anglers, boaters and the commercial bait industry in the hope the disease can be slowed down, Staggs said. A special Natural Resources Board meeting has been tentatively set for Thursday.

George Meyer, a former DNR secretary who is now executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, said the discovery of viral hemorrhagic septicemia could be more devastating than chronic wasting disease, which was discovered in deer in 2002.

"This is a gravely serious situation," Meyer said, noting that the virus is transmitted by water rather than through blood or saliva as with chronic wasting disease.

The federal government classifies 37 species as in danger of dying from the virus, and that includes such popular sport fish as chinook and coho salmon, rainbow trout, largemouth bass, walleye and yellow perch.

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Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com