New York State has mandated that the Atlantic salmon fry that the club places into Fish Creek has to be tested for VHS before being stocked. This is in spite of the eggs that we get from the state of Maine have already been tested. They have ruled that because we place them into a different body of water while they are being hatched and then are placed into Fish Creek.
The state has also ruled that the club has to pay for this testing at a certified laboratory which will cost from $1500 to $2000. This will impact the future operation of the club severely.
Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) was first detected in Lake Ontario in 2005. This disease has been reported in several of the Great Lakes and related tributaries. A large number of die-offs of wild fish has since occurred because of this disease. VHS has been know to infect 37 fish species. Before being detected in the Great Lakes VHS was limited to salt water fish from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. As a result of research, it is now known that VHS was present in Lake St. Clair as early as 2003. On Oct. 24, 2006 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued an emergency order prohibiting the importation of 37 species of life fish from two Canadian provinces and the eight states bordering the Great Lakes.
For more information about VHS click on the links that follows: