Wildlife

Great Lakes fish hatcheries could benefit from new test for deadly VHS virus

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There may be hope for fishery managers still reeling years after a dangerous virus appeared in the Great Lakes. The month-long wait for a viral hemorrhagic septicemia test has hobbled hatcheries that must test fish before introducing them to the region’s lakes and streams. Genetics researchers at the Lake Erie Research Center at the University of Toledo are working on a test that will speed up that diagnosis to a matter of hours. The research, supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is one of several projects around the Great Lakes studying a virus that has cost the region tens of millions of dollars in staff time, lost hatchery capacity and research. The tourism and ecosystem impacts are as yet unknown, Marc Gaden, communications director for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, wrote in an e-mail. About $1.2 million from various sources has been spent on projects that seek to better understand the virus and develop diagnostic tests, said Gary Whelan, the fish production manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division

The virus was first detected in the Great Lakes in 2005 and 2006 after it killed large numbers of fresh water drum, muskellunge, round gobies and yellow perch.

Water

Spawning sturgeon typifies good karma

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(OH) The Toledo Blade – Spawning by lake sturgeon in Canadian waters of the Detroit River has been confirmed for the first time in 30 years, boosting hopes for continued recovery of this rare, ancient species in the river and adjoining waters of western Lake Erie. The spawning is occurring on a reef built last fall at the head of Fighting Island, across from Wyandotte, Mich., under an American-Canadian partnership. Sturgeon, considered an indicator of ecosystem health, are estimated at just one percent of their former numbers in the Detroit River. More