Whirllng Disease Confirmed In Bow River

[Swede]

No its not BurningChrome, the one am thinking of was a rainbow and i even commented that it looked like it had whirling disease. Or i should say it looked exactly like the pictures in my books of trout with whirling disease.

[sldrose]

hoping it doesn't come to this, but what are you supposed to do if you do catch a fish with suspected whirling disease?

 

what protocols did they implement in Montana other than cleaning gear?

[BurningChrome]

hoping it doesn't come to this, but what are you supposed to do if you do catch a fish with suspected whirling disease?

 

what protocols did they implement in Montana other than cleaning gear?

It's at the site I linked to earlier:

 

http://whirlingdisease.montana.edu/about/anglers.htm

 

No its not BurningChrome, the one am thinking of was a rainbow and i even commented that it looked like it had whirling disease. Or i should say it looked exactly like the pictures in my books of trout with whirling disease.

From the link above (emphasis is mine):

 

"When an infected fish develops whirling disease, typical signs include a darkened tail, twisted spine and deformed head (shortened, twisted jaw). Young fish may also swim erratically (whirl). However, other conditions can cause these signs. Whirling disease must be confirmed by microscopic examination or other tests. If you see fish with these signs in an area where whirling disease has not been reported, you should contact your state fisheries agency."

[Swede]

Ya well you never had a sneaking suspicion in your life or what..

[jpinkster]

Ya well you never had a sneaking suspicion in your life or what..

I never had a sneaking suspicion that I assumed was a verifiable scientific fact.

[stein]

hoping it doesn't come to this, but what are you supposed to do if you do catch a fish with suspected whirling disease?

 

what protocols did they implement in Montana other than cleaning gear?

 

Put the fish in the garbage so it ends up in a landfill

[Dangus]

Really? Doesn't that risk just spreading it further?

[jpinkster]

The only thing people should be doing if they catch a fish that they suspect has WD is call AEP. If everyone starts coming out with "their solution" on what to do, we'll have a bigger disaster on our hands. It's kind of the same reason we made people do fish ID courses before taking part in the stewardship program. If we tell people to just kill fish they suspect have WD, we'll have a lot of otherwise healthy fish ending up dead.

[BurningChrome]

Ya well you never had a sneaking suspicion in your life or what..

Here's the problem. Say someone reads through this thread and sees all these people posting that they've seen fish with WD around before and WD has been here for years. Obviously it hasn't affected the fish population or spread anywhere else even though nobody has been cleaning their gear they think to themselves. So now they don't bother cleaning any of their gear and bring it to another stream. Because of posts based on suspicion with zero scientific evidence behind it.

[BurningChrome]

Put the fish in the garbage so it ends up in a landfill

From the press release http://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=433953CA3458B-B50E-57D4-A97FD2549BE284E2

 

"If you suspect a case of whirling disease, call 1-855-336-BOAT (2628)."

 

 

[danhunt]

I realize it is a different parasite, but one of the contributing factors in the recent Yellowstone outbreak is believed to be the low flows and higher than normal water temperatures the river has been experiencing this year. Temperature and other environmental factors are known to play a role in Whirling disease outbreaks as well, so is it so far-fetched to think that it has been here for a while and the conditions were just never right for a larger scale outbreak? Doesn't the fact that biologists are now sampling other drainage lend some credence to that idea, or is there another reason why it might spread across the province in the space of days when it hasn't been able to cross an invisible border for 20+ years?

 

It is all well and good to believe in the scientific method and to want empirical evidence before whole heartedly subscribing to an idea. That said, before dismissing the anecdotal observations of GrnDrake and others out of hand consider this - it is the Canadian food inspection agency that is credited with confirming the presence of Whiling Disease in Alberta. It is also the CFIA that refuses to acknowledge that there is any disease problem relating to net pen fish farms off the west coast that is causing wild pacific salmon stocks to be decimated. And this is despite evidence from an internationally recognized and accredited laboratory to the contrary. There is a really good post a little ways down in the forum, if anyone is interested.

 

An open mind and a healthy sense of scepticism are two sides of the same coin, my friends. We are all on the same side here, let's keep it civil.

[fisher26]

It is a threat and it can potentially be devastating but there's no point in running around like your hair is on fire. What we need to do right now (like I said in my earlier post) is start to be diligent about cleaning gear between water bodies or even using different gear on the Bow than you do elsewhere.

 

http://whirlingdisease.montana.edu/about/faq.htm

 

From what I've read about Whirling Disease in the U.S., it seems to cause a large initial kill of rainbows or about a decade, and then natural selection slowly creates a degree of resistance, and two decades later the fish population recovers somewhat. Still though I'm not keen to see the Bow, Crow, and Oldman lose 90% of their populations (like on the Maddison) until 2036.

 

And bleaching felt and washing waders prevents the spread of whirling disease, but once the parasite enters a water body those precautions do nothing to the affected stream/river. In Montana whirling disease is present in almost all water bodies—with varying effects on the fish.

[fishinhogdaddy]

I realize it is a different parasite, but one of the contributing factors in the recent Yellowstone outbreak is believed to be the low flows and higher than normal water temperatures the river has been experiencing this year. Temperature and other environmental factors are known to play a role in Whirling disease outbreaks as well, so is it so far-fetched to think that it has been here for a while and the conditions were just never right for a larger scale outbreak? Doesn't the fact that biologists are now sampling other drainage lend some credence to that idea, or is there another reason why it might spread across the province in the space of days when it hasn't been able to cross an invisible border for 20+ years?

 

It is all well and good to believe in the scientific method and to want empirical evidence before whole heartedly subscribing to an idea. That said, before dismissing the anecdotal observations of GrnDrake and others out of hand consider this - it is the Canadian food inspection agency that is credited with confirming the presence of Whiling Disease in Alberta. It is also the CFIA that refuses to acknowledge that there is any disease problem relating to net pen fish farms off the west coast that is causing wild pacific salmon stocks to be decimated. And this is despite evidence from an internationally recognized and accredited laboratory to the contrary. There is a really good post a little ways down in the forum, if anyone is interested.

 

An open mind and a healthy sense of scepticism are two sides of the same coin, my friends. We are all on the same side here, let's keep it civil.

Well said.

FHD

[bowbonehead]

Angler, Spores may lie dormant for up to 30 years so its quite possible it was already there

[fishinhogdaddy]

I was sent this link which is a few years old but explains things quite well of the impacts and recovery in Montana.

FHD

 

http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/2007/whirlingdisease.htm

[stein]

From the press release http://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=433953CA3458B-B50E-57D4-A97FD2549BE284E2

 

"If you suspect a case of whirling disease, call 1-855-336-BOAT (2628)."

 

Actually the quote BurningChrome posted first tells you to put the infected fish in the landfill so it doesn't risk getting back into a water system...

 

http://whirlingdisease.montana.edu/about/anglers.htm

 

• Dispose of fish entrails and skeletal parts properly. Never discard fish parts in or near streams or rivers. Because an infected fish may harbor tens of thousands of myxospores, simply disposing of infected fish parts in a clean drainage could provide enough spores to start an infection. Do not discard fish parts in a kitchen disposal. Whirling disease myxospores can survive most wastewater treatment systems. Instead, discard in dry waste that would go to a landfill.

[bcubed]

 

Actually the quote BurningChrome posted first tells you to put the infected fish in the landfill so it doesn't risk getting back into a water system...

 

http://whirlingdisease.montana.edu/about/anglers.htm

 

• Dispose of fish entrails and skeletal parts properly. Never discard fish parts in or near streams or rivers. Because an infected fish may harbor tens of thousands of myxospores, simply disposing of infected fish parts in a clean drainage could provide enough spores to start an infection. Do not discard fish parts in a kitchen disposal. Whirling disease myxospores can survive most wastewater treatment systems. Instead, discard in dry waste that would go to a landfill.

 

Think the point BC was trying to make, is that unless you're a qualified biologist, you probably shouldn't be the one making the call on culling fish cause they may have Whirling. The quote above is how you you're supposed to deal with all kept fish, not just ones you think may have WD.

[SilverDoctor]

Deformities do happen in trout because of injuries, birth defects and accidents/predation.

[stein]

Think the point BC was trying to make, is that unless you're a qualified biologist, you probably shouldn't be the one making the call on culling fish cause they may have Whirling. The quote above is how you you're supposed to deal with all kept fish, not just ones you think may have WD.

 

"simply disposing of infected fish parts in a clean drainage could provide enough spores to start an infection"

 

Only a qualified biologist could know for sure though!

[Conor]

Fishinhog... Thanks for the MT gov article. That answered a lot of questions that I have been developing this week.

[fishinhogdaddy]

Fishinhog... Thanks for the MT gov article. That answered a lot of questions that I have been developing this week.

I thought it was good too. Before everyone starts to "speculate" on the impacts that this malady has or may have on our waters, reading and understanding is the first step. Although, in the article seeing that it may take decades for a watershed to evolve to the point where they are at a recovery phase, nature has its way of culling the weak and boosting the natural defenses of the species over time as the article indicates.

FHD

[jpinkster]

I thought it was good too. Before everyone starts to "speculate" on the impacts that this malady has or may have on our waters, reading and understanding is the first step. Although, in the article seeing that it may take decades for a watershed to evolve to the point where they are at a recovery phase, nature has its way of culling the weak and boosting the natural defenses of the species over time as the article indicates.

FHD

It isn't entirely dissimilar to what we see with dramatic flood events. There may initially be a significant kill event, but what hangs on are the strongest in a strain. As long as the survivors are able to spawn and pass along those good genes, we are in good shape.

Where I think the big concern lays is with our threatened bulls and cutties. In many situations these fish populations can't handle a kill event of any significance.

[Dangus]

I think those threatened populations are at increased risk due to a limited number of individuals/gene pool.

Apparently Fall spawners aren't as affected by the parasite due to water temps and when they're developing--which is nice for for Browns and bulls not so much for cutts and bows.