A A A

IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Meeting Minutes, Club Chit-Chat, and Fishing Reports will be listed if you are a member of Chapter 50. If you are a member, and you cannot see the reports after logging in, please use the contact form by selecting the floating envelope icon located in the bottom-right corner. Include your name and your Chapter 50 membership number. We will verify, and grant you special rights to view all. Alternatively, you may email us at muskiesincpennjersey @ gmail .

Please consider registering
Guest
sp_LogInOut Log In sp_Registration Register
Register | Lost password?
Advanced Search
Forum Scope


Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
sp_TopicIcon
new rules for out of state stocking
September 12, 2008
8:21 pm
Avatar
stevewarner
Member
MI50 group
Forum Posts: 253
Member Since:
December 31, 2007
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Feds set fish shipment rules for Great Lakes
Thursday, September 11, 2008 4:58 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By JOHN FLESHER Associated Press Writer

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Federal regulators trying to contain a fish-killing virus in the Great Lakes region have issued rules for shipping live fish across state lines that some wholesalers say will be financially devastating.

The requirements were announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. They require testing and inspections of 28 farm-raised and live bait species susceptible to viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS.

The virus, fatal for fish but not believed to affect humans, has caused die-offs in all the Great Lakes except Lake Superior the past couple of years. It also has shown up in some inland waterways. Authorities say it endangers the region's billion-dollar sport and commercial fisheries.

Most of the eight states on the Great Lakes have taken steps to prevent the disease from spreading. APHIS, the federal agency, issued an emergency order on interstate fish transport in 2006 and has modified it several times while developing the interim rules released this week.

They take effect Nov. 10. APHIS said it would accept public comments until then and develop a final set of regulations. No deadline for its completion has been set.

"There will still be a risk of spreading VHS but we tried to reduce it as much as possible while still allowing commerce," said Gary Egrie, an APHIS veterinary medical officer for aquaculture programs.

But some suppliers of live fish said the complex package was regulatory overkill that would eat away their profits on test and inspection fees without solving the problem.

"They are potentially destroying the Great Lakes aquaculture industry," said Dan Vogler, a board member of the Michigan Aquaculture Association and operator of a Wexford County fish farm that ships live rainbow trout to several states.

Among fish covered by the rules are brown and rainbow trout, chinook salmon, walleye, yellow perch, lake whitefish and muskellunge, as well as bait species such as emerald and spottail shiners.

Vogler, who draws water from a creek and a well, said the rules would cost him about $37,000 a year, leaving no profit.

Ben Gollon, a live bait wholesaler in Stevens Point, Wis., said he expected to spend $60,000 this year to comply.

"It's outrageous," he said.

Despite the industry complaints, the new regulations don't appear to differ significantly from the previous federal order, said Marc Gaden, spokesman for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

While describing federal and state containment efforts as "appropriate," he said governments had not done enough to prevent further introductions of invasive organisms. Scientists believe VHS was among many species brought to the region inside ballast tanks of oceangoing ships.

"It's crucial to keep them out in the first place," Gaden said. "Once they're here, spreading and movement around is all but inevitable."

———

On the Net:

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: http://www.aphis.usda.gov

Catch and Release works for everyone,keeping a fish works for just one!

September 12, 2008
9:18 pm
DL
Member
MI50 group
Forum Posts: 2213
Member Since:
March 22, 2004
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Steve,

Thanks for posting that. That just re-enforces our plans to aid the state more in their efforts to raise and stock larger fish. If we can buy the minnows and they will hold the fish over for a year, then we shouldn't need further shipments from out of state.

DL

DL

Forum Timezone: America/New_York
Most Users Ever Online: 593
Currently Online:
57
Guest(s)
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Top Posters:
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 0
Members: 563
Moderators: 3
Admins: 2
Forum Stats:
Groups: 7
Forums: 42
Topics: 5516
Posts: 38612
Newest Members:
Franksemiz, Danielskeks, BrianTen
Moderators: blkdrs: 2010, Mike D: 1999, Archie: 475
Administrators: adminarchie: 13, mi50 webmaster: 0

CONTACT US

We're not around right now. But you can send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.

Sending

©2024 MUSKIES INC Chapter 50 Penn Jersey

Log in with your credentials

or    

Forgot your details?

Create Account