Buck posted on July 29, 2007 10:50 :: 1647 Views
Boater and angler compliance
At Chequamegon Bay, the first citations have been issued for boater failure to comply with emergency rules aimed at preventing the spread of VHS to new waters. The emergency rules went on the books in early April. This year as in past years when new laws or rules go on the books, DNR’s conservation wardens take an educational approach in the first year and typically issue citations only for flagrant, intentional violations.
Through this week, the small corps of state-paid water craft inspectors and the Clean Boats, Clean Waters volunteers working boat launches around the state had inspected 13,000 boats for invasive species and talked to 24,000 boaters to show them how to prevent the spread of VHS and other aquatic invasive species. Approximately 90 percent of the boaters surveyed at the landings said they had taken prevention steps. Erin Henegar, who coordinates the Clean Boats, Clean Waters program for the Department of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin-Extension, says those statistics are in line with what she saw and heard during a recent weekend at boat launches on Lake Winnebago. “Boaters are very much aware of VHS. Only one of the 40 I talked to had not heard of VHS,” Henegar says. “Most of them seemed concerned. A lot of them said, ‘I don’t want to be the one to spread that.’” She also noted, however, that some boaters thought that since no new VHS infested waters had been found recently, the worry is past. It is important to note that VHS remains a serious threat to Wisconsin’s native fish. Fish kills and positive VHS test results have slowed due to weather conditions -- fish are better able to fight off the disease with warmer water temperatures. As water temperatures cool in the fall and then in the spring after enduring the stress associated with spawning, more fish kills and infected fish are expected. Though the toll of fish killed by the disease is still very low, it has had tremendous costs and triggered tremendous changes in DNR’s fisheries management program and has triggered changes for boaters and anglers. DNR is in the process of replacing laminated VHS signs posted at landings and with more permanent metal signs.
Stocking update
Private stocking of fish into state waters by lake associations, sport groups or other parties is undergoing greater scrutiny as a result of the discovery of VHS in the Lake Winnebago system and in Lake Michigan. DNR Fisheries Director Mike Staggs reminds folks who want to apply for a permit to stock public waters that they must have the proper testing and documentation as required by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. So far, many of the fish stocking permit requests DNR has received have had incomplete information, leading to a delay in the permit being issued, or its denial. DNR continues to follow its routine process for issuing permits if the fish have been broadly tested for disease and if the fish are destined for those specific waters where VHS has already been found – Lake Michigan, Green Bay, Lake Winnebago, and Little Lake Butte des Morts. For private stocking intended to go to any where else – including tributaries or connecting waters to those lakes where VHS has already been found -- DNR and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection are considering permits on a case-by-case basis. The risks of stocking fish raised in private hatcheries are the same as those in state hatcheries – they could have been exposed to VHS through their water supply, the forage fish fed to larger fish, or from wild fish being transferred or spawned to produce the hatchery fish.
Forage Sampling
DNR continues making changes to minimize as much as possible any risk that DNR hatchery operations could inadvertently spread VHS. No VHS has been found in any DNR hatchery fish tested, their parent fish, nor the lakes or rivers providing clean water to their rearing ponds and tanks, but DNR is making substantial adjustments after the viral disease was discovered in fish from the state’s largest inland water, Lake Winnebago. Starting this week, DNR hatchery staff began VHS testing of forage fish that are fed to larger game fish being raised at state hatcheries. The purpose of this new forage testing plan is to provide assurances that the cool-water fish being stocked into Wisconsin's waters this fall are VHS-negative. Under the process, one month before harvest operations begin, forage (little minnows) will be purchased and brought in for stockpiling. From each truckload, 60 minnows will be tested for VHS while the remaining minnows will be stockpiled or fed directly to coolwater fish including muskies, northern pike and walleye fingerlings. One month before harvest begins, 60 of each group of fingerlings being fed the forage will also be tested. It takes 28 days to receive test results on VHS, so the fish scheduled for harvest will be switched to the stockpiled forage while the lab processes the samples. If more forage is needed during this time, DNR will only purchase VHS tested forage. The hatchery fish will only be stocked if both they and the forage they were fed test negative for VHS.
Most frequently asked question of the week
The emergency rules ban the movement of live fish from one waterbody to another. Is this really a problem? How many people really move from lake to lake to boat or fish?
Lake hopping is very common among boaters and anglers. Boating or trying your luck at fishing on different lakes on the same day or same week can be part of the fun. But it’s a big problem if these frequent fliers don’t take the necessary steps to avoid accidentally spreading VHS to new waters. So far this year, 47 percent of the boaters surveyed at boat landings by state-funded watercraft inspectors or volunteers trained through the Clean Boats, Clean Waters program indicated that they had last used their boat within the past five days. Fully 47 percent of those boat operators last used their boat in a water infested with some sort of invasive species. So enjoy exploring Wisconsin’s 15,081 lakes and 44,000 perennially flowing rivers miles, but make sure you never move live fish from one water to another, that you always drain your boat, bilge, bait bucket and live well, and that you always buy minnows from Wisconsin bait dealers.
Buck Anderson is the President/CEO of Jive Media Group LLC (The company that owns JustNorth Outdoors).
In addition to enjoying camping, fishing, hunting, and golf he is a well known Internet buisness training and web design coach specializing in DotNetNuke Open Source Portal technologies.
If you are interested in developing a website like JustNorth Outdoors, for your business niche, visit Buck at http://dnnprofessor.com.
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