Sportfishing Urgent read

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Blaker
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Sportfishing Urgent read

Post by Blaker »

Found this on another site this will really affect us and be bad for the future of our sport.

She informed me that the USDA has placed an IMMEDIATE
ban on the interstate transport of BAITFISH and GAMEFISH due to the VHS (Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia)
found in wild populations of fish in the Great Lakes. This is a new strain of VHS that was
isolated in June in the St Lawrence River and Irondequoit Bay, which is on the southern shore
of Lake Ontario near Rochester. Other strains of VHS have been found in Pacific herring
on the Pacific coast. This is the FIRST time that the USDA has put a ban on the transport
of fish. I was told today by APHIS ( Animal and Plant Inspection Service) that this measure
could be expanded to include the transport of gamefish in livewells. That would include tournament
angling. The immediate ban was designed to protect the spread of VHS to aquaculture
facilities. I recieved CONFORMATION that there have been NO DOCUMENTED CASES of VHS
in federal,state or private hatcheries. I also have a copy of a letter from the National Aquaculture
Association requesting IMMEDIATE action to prohibit or restrict transport of fish. It just so happens
that two of the LARGEST bait farms located in Arkansas are on the board of directors for
the National Aquaculture Association. All meetings were held in secret with NO PUBLIC or
STAKEHOLDER NOTICE! There is absolutely NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE to suggest the spread
of VHS to aquaculture facilities due to the transport of baitfish or gamefish from areas outside
the Great Lakes. The regulations are BROAD and INCLUDE the TRANSPORT of BAITFISH and
GAMEFISH from: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Wisconsin. All importation of live fish from the Canadian Provinces of Ontario and Quebec
is PROHIBITED. We know for a fact that the virus does not replicate in temperatures over
15 Celsius, making the spread to warmer states impossible! These regulations are not based
upon scientific FACTS! They could have easily inacted regulations on bodies of water where
the virus has been found, but instead they included ALL BODIES OF WATER IN ALL OF THE ABOVE
STATES!

The Federal Order was issued on October 16th. Documents can be viewed at:
http/www.aphis.usda.gov/newroom/content/2006 ... fish.shtml
This matter is SO SERIOUS that the American Sportfishing Association along with a few
other stakeholders will be meeting with the USDA and APHIS tomorrow morning in
Washington D.C.

I will reprint a portion of the letter dated 9/8/06 from the National Aquaculture Association.

"We are requesting that APHIS immediately implement interim measures to control the greatest
POTENTIAL risk vector (distribution of LIVE, infected fish), investigate the sources and scope of
the risks of VHSH transmission to COMMERICAL AQUACUTURE, and evaluate the efficacy of
interim or PERMANENT REGULATIONS TO PROTECT FARM RAISED AQUATIC ANIMALS from VHSV.

The specific method of methods of transmission of the virus have YET to be CONCLUSIVELY
CONFIRMED but could CONCIEVABLY include FISHERMAN, FISHING GEAR, BOATS, WATER and
LIVE FISH. Therefore, the deminsion of the interim measures need to be carefully considered, and
efforts should be made to PRORITIZE development of controls for the greatest risks of transmission.
Conversely, low risk vectors or fish that can be SHOWN free of the virus should be permitted
ready for passage between states, and scientific methods to confirm such low risks should be
established."

WOW, TALK ABOUT SPECIAL INTEREST!!!!!!!!!!!! There are 37 species on the Federal list, including
ALL species of BASS!

I am urging ALL INTERESTED OR CONCERNED sportfishermen to PLEASE contact your US senator
and US congressman. The Federal order states that the "Administrator may also designate other
States or portions thereof as PROHIBITED AREAS UNDER THIS ORDER!
You can view the letter to from the National Aquaculture Association to the APHIS Administrator
by going to: http/www.nationalaquaculture.org

Several industry stakeholders will challenge this federal order in the federal court system. I have
offered to testify as a scientist on behalf of the sportfishing industry, based upon SCIENTIFIC
FACTS and not on supposition! Please protect our sport, let your VOICE be HEARD!

This is the actual order http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/aqua/pdf/v ... hanges.pdf

A Letter from the state of Illinois

IDNR asks U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider Emergency Order prohibiting importation of certain species of live fish
Order will place undue hardships on Illinois’ aquaculture industry


SPRINGFIELD- Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Acting Director Sam Flood, today sent a letter to the U. S. Department of Agriculture Animal, Plant and Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) asking that an Emergency Order put in place Wednesday be reconsidered. Though there is no evidence that viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) exists in Illinois, the Order prohibits the interstate movement of 37 species of fish from the eight states bordering the Great Lakes due to outbreaks of this virus elsewhere. The text of the letter follows:

October 27, 2006
Dr. Paul Egrie
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
4700 River Road
Riverdale, MD 20737

Dear Dr. Egrie,

This letter is in response to the Federal Order published on October 24, 2006 by USDA - APHIS regarding quarantine of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) in the states bordering the Great Lakes. This Order will place an undue hardship on the aquaculture industry in Illinois. Estimated direct impacts of the 37 restricted species alone are $2.28 million per year in lost sales revenue for the State. VHS poses no threat to humans, and even if the virus were located at an Illinois aquaculture facility, it poses little danger for spread to other aquaculture operations.

If the concern is for transportation of VHS into an aquaculture facility, and it is only located within a known geographic range, then certainly fish being transported out of endemic areas should be suspect. In fact, Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) biologists have refused shipments of susceptible fish species from infected areas.

However, quarantine on all shipments from an entire state which has very little area within the Great Lakes basin, and only that in Lake Michigan where VHS has never been detected, is far too restrictive. This Order will completely eliminate long-established trades of sport fish between state agencies that are crucial to the maintenance, restoration, and enhancement of sport fish programs within and among the identified states. The task to slow the inevitable spread of the disease is difficult; however, the wide boundaries used in the Emergency Order causes undo hardship to state-owned hatcheries and private aquaculture facilities that in no way further the spread of VHS in their normal operations.

In approximately six weeks to two months, there will be accepted, standardized protocols for testing and certification that will facilitate shipment of fish from these areas. If these certifying tests are established and still no VHS-positive fish have been found in the western Great Lakes or elsewhere in Illinois, then the economic impact felt by the Illinois aquaculture industry and Illinois sport fishermen will have been for nothing. At best, this Order is premature.

There is no indication that Illinois is currently infected with VHS, so there is no reason to list Illinois as an area prohibited from shipping. Without a “pest or disease of livestock” found in the area, there is no justification for quarantine. Even if Illinois did have detections of VHS in Lake Michigan, then only the Lake Michigan basin should be affected by any prohibition on export.

There is no justification for placing a restriction on fish raised in hatcheries or pond systems outside of the Great Lakes basin which have no connection to waters where VHS has been found.

The purpose of the APHIS authority is to prevent economic damage to the livestock industry. Including the State of Illinois in the Order as a Prohibited Domestic Area does nothing to protect the livestock industry, and instead does irreparable economic harm to the Illinois aquaculture industry. Further, we feel APHIS made its ruling with little input from the regulated states which shows a disregard for damages caused by the Order. APHIS has been withdrawn in this decision-making process, and was not forthcoming with their intention to proceed with this Order against the recommendation of many states and the Great Lakes Fish Health Committee.

Our hope is that these issues can be resolved to provide adequate protection to facilities potentially affected by VHS, and yet not place additional undue burden upon the state hatcheries, the baitfish industry, sport fishermen, and the Illinois aquaculture industry.

Sincerely,

Sam Flood,
Acting Director
Illinois Department of Natural Resources



This is a letter from the National Aquaculture Association

http://www.nationalaquaculture.org/page ... oAPHIS.pdf
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joco
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Post by joco »

thanks for the heads up.....



here mores info...


http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/26102006/3/c ... uebec.html

joco.
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