TRAVERSE CITY, MICH. - 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 rules were announced this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). They require testing and inspections of 28 farm-raised and live bait species susceptible to viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS.
The virus, fatal in fish but not believed to affect humans, has caused die-offs in all of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior in 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 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 VHS 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.
