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Deadly virus threatens fish in state waters
efishingbooks 
 		  Port: Sheboygan   05/01/2007 13:16
Brookie
Posts: 39
 

Deadly virus threatens fish in state waters

Green Lake tourism industry encourages adherence to new DNR rule

By Patricia Wolff
of The Northwestern


GREEN LAKE – People involved in the tourism industry want to spread the word about ways to fight a deadly virus that threatens fish in area waters.


Viral hemorrhagic septicemia, which causes skin hemorrhages on infected fish and death, is an emerging disease in the Great Lakes region that has the potential to kill all the fish in Green Lake, said Dusty Walker, director of the Green Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.

The virus probably entered the great lakes in ballast from ships from other parts of the world. It has already caused "huge die-offs" of fish in Lake Huron and Lake Erie.
Despite the alarm, Dave Paynter, a fish technician with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in Montello, warned against a panic.

"It affects a lot of different species. When it gets here it’ll probably race through. There will be some resistance to it, putting an end to it naturally," Paynter said.

Still, there is no way to predict how big the effect will be locally and how various species will react. That the virus has been detected in Lake Michigan makes fishing guides who ply the waters of Big Green with their customers nervous.

"It’s going to be in the lake. We’re going to be one of the first lakes it affects," said Joel Baranowski at North Bay Sport & Liquor in Green Lake.

The DNR Board issued an emergency rule earlier this month aimed at controlling the spread of the virus. Part of that rule prohibits the use of live bait from Lake Michigan, commonly used by on Big Green. Another part of the rule requires anglers to use live bait captured only from the body of water to be fished.

That may pose a problem. Baranowski has had to throw away all his Lake Michigan chubs and smelt and worries he won’t be able to get enough bait locally. Green Lake has no shad, he said. He can get Cisco from Big Green but it is illegal for him to sell it.

Green Lakers want visitors to be aware of the new DNR rules and follow them carefully. Paynter said the new rules added to some old ones offer some good protection.

"The same thing that will keep zebra mussels and exotic weeds out – cleaning your boat - will help," he said.
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Deadly virus threatens fish in state waters
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