Fish Transport Ban

by Mike Barkley

A recent federal order from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) banning the importation of 37 species of fish that are susceptible to Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) Area species that are currently banned from importation from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as Ontario and Quebec, Canada, are listed below.

Black crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus	Muskellunge Esox masquinongy
Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus	Pike Esox lucius
Bluntnose minnow Pimephales notatus	Pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus
Brown bullhead Ictalurus nebulosus	Rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss
Brown trout Salmo trutta	Redhorse sucker Moxostoma spp
Channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus	Rock bass Ambloplites rupestris
Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha	Round goby Neogobius melanostomus
Coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch	Smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu
Emerald shiner Notropis atherinoides	Walleye Sander vitreus
Freshwater drum Aplodinotus grunniens	White bass Morone chrysops
Gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum	White perch Morone Americana
Grayling Thymallus thymallus	Whitefish Coregonus spp
Largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides	Yellow perch Perca flavescens

After receiving numerous e-mails/phone calls telling me that it had been published that it was now illegal to bring your catch home from Canada or Ohio, I did a little research.

A little browsing through the USDA web site brought a lot of information. The first thing that I read was that ” The goal of the Federal Order is to prevent the spread of the disease to aquaculture facilities”! That, and the fact that the order was issued by APHIS, which regulates Aquaculture and numerous references to “interstate commerce/importation in the various documents and the fact that sportfishing was NOT mentioned made me wonder. All it took was an E-mail to Mr. Gary Egrie of the USDA/APHIS, the state coordinator for the program. He called me on the phone and stated that the ban does NOT affect those of us that fish Ohio/Canadian waters and bring fish home for consumption!!

Shortly afterwards, I also received an E-mail from Mr. Peter Merrill of the same office informing me that if the fish are alive, we are in violation of the order, but they are still revising the order!! This makes it as clear as MUD Stay tuned for further developments!!! I'm really curious to know what they are going to do about all of the "illegals" that are blatantly ignoring the order by swimming back and forth between Canada, Michigan and Ohio!! Maybe build a fence????

As far as tournaments go, they have already been contacted by Wal-Mart and other sponsors of tournaments and are currently re-writing the language to cover tourneys also since fish are either released in the same watershed they came from or will be consumed.

The effect on the minnow industry is unclear though as many are a result of aquaculture.

The purpose of the law is to contain the VHS virus and prevent it from spreading, which, although not effecting humans, can be devastating to fish and the aquaculture industry. VHS is the virus that has caused large die offs in Musky and other species.
Here are some links to additional info on the internet http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/aqua/
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/content/printable_version/fs_vhs_q_and_a.pdf

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/cei/taf/emergingdiseasenotice_files/vhsgreatlakes.htm

The bottom line is, Angler Beware!!!!!!!!!!! “Yes, you can enjoy your catch, no matter where you caught them, but if you want to be safe, Kill them”!!