Health departments warns of spreading fish virus
The Lake County Health Department and forest preserve district are urging Lake Michigan recreational boaters and anglers to follow new rules to ward off spreading a deadly fish virus to inland lakes.
The health department recently put out the advisory to reinforce emergency regulations issued by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources after testing confirmed Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia was present in two fish species sampled at Winthrop Harbor in June.
Since 2005, the virus has been found in all the Great Lakes except Lake Superior.
It is not a threat to humans, but can severely impact a lake's aquatic life and overall health. So far, it has not been found in any inland lake in Lake County or anywhere else in the state, an IDNR spokesman said Monday.
Under the new rules, boaters must drain natural water and clean out all equipment when leaving any body of water. Fishermen are also required to empty bait buckets, livewells, baitwells, bilges or any compartment that can hold natural waters before heading from lake to lake.
"That should just be part of every boater's routine when they bring their boat out of the water," said Mike Adam, senior biologist for the Lake County Health Department's Lakes Management Unit. "As long as fishermen are using common sense practices, washing their hands, thoroughly cooking their fish before they eat, there should be no problem for humans."
Though Lake County is a focal point, the new regulations apply to boaters and anglers throughout the state.
"It doesn't matter where they are at in Illinois. They have got to eliminate natural water from their boats," said Mike Conlin, director of resource conservation for IDNR's Division of Fisheries, Wildlife, Forestry and Natural Heritage. "Our conservation police officers will check the public boat ramps when they are out for their safety checks."
The IDNR has one conservation officer per county monitoring 91,000 lakes and ponds, 126,000 miles of streams, and 1 million acres of Lake Michigan.
"It gives them a tremendous area of responsibility to enforce rules and regulations, including the new VHS regulations," Conlin said.
Officials hope continued public education will make their task easier.
The virus becomes active in cooler waters below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It could survive higher temperatures and affect a variety of fish species causing widespread fish kills.
"I think that's the concern," Adam said. "It may have an impact not only on the bigger fish, the commercial fish like the Chinook salmon, but also on the forage fish."
Fishermen may catch species susceptible to the virus - for a complete list visit http://dnr.state.il.us - but not transport the fish live. Anglers cannot release unused live bait, or release fish caught from other waters into Lake County Forest Preserve District lakes and ponds or any other body of water.
"It's not going to wipe them out but it certainly could do some damage to the lake's fishery," Adam said. "There's really nothing you can do once it's in. There is no vaccine. There's no treatment. It's basically watch your fish die. It all comes down to prevention."