New Fish Disease

Friends,

The US Dept. of Agriculture reported last week that Viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) virus, an extremely serious fish disease, is emerging in the Great Lakes region. VHS has been found in the waters of Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River.

This strain is responsible for die-offs in muskellunge, smallmouth bass, northern pike, freshwater drum, gizzard shad, yellow perch, black crappie, bluegill, rock bass, white bass, redhorse sucker, bluntnose sucker, round goby, and walleye.

How VHS was transferred to the Great Lakes or how long it has been in the ecosystem is not known. Mortality is highest at low water temperatures between 37 and 54 degrees Fahrenheit. This suggests we may be seeing more severe die-offs into the fall and winter.

Some fish will show no external signs while others show signs that include bulging eyes, bloated abdomens, inactive or overactive behavior, and hemorrhaging in the eyes, skin, gills, and at the base of the fins. Infected fish may also have lesions that look like those caused by other fish diseases.

Please clean your fishing equipment, boats, and trailers before using them in a new body of water and do not transfer any fish or fish parts from one body of water to another. These practices will help slow the spread of this disease. Report any die-offs on your regular captain's report.

Two Events Coming Up

Fishermen and women: this Saturday, August 26 is the annual Round Goby Round-Up. Call Chris Pennuto at 878-4105 or show up at the Great Lakes Center from 8am-1pm to get your free worms! Fishing sites will include the Buffalo River as well.

Don't miss our Water Quality Test Kit Training next TUESDAY, AUGUST 29 from 6 pm to 8:30 at the Great Lakes Center. Remember to bring a sample from your waterway.

To gather a sample, purchase an new small bottle of spring water. Open the bottle at your waterway, dump out the water, fill the bottle completely with the mouth facing upstream, and replace the cap under water. Be sure not to touch the rim of the bottle with your hands (or mouth). Gather it as close to the training time as possible.

To get to the Great Lakes Center at the foot of Porter Ave. in Buffalo, take the Porter Ave. exit from the I-190. Turn right onto the drive just after the highway ramp - there will be a military training facility immediately on your left. Pass the military building and you will find the Great Lakes Center on your left.

See you there!

Successful Stenciling near Riverside Park

Last week, we finally made it out to the intersection of Tonawanda and Vulcan Streets near Riverside Park to stencil some stormwater drains. Mary Rossi of the WNY Stormwater Coalition joined a Riverkeeper crew of Robbyn Drake, Shannon Holland, Megan Palame, and Robin Douglas to stencil "Dump no Waste, Drains to Niagara River" on three street stormwater drains. We earned a lot of curious stares from people who were wondering what a crew of women with bright orange vests were spray-painting on the street. In fact, one restaurant owner approached us, questioning the usefulness of what we were doing. I don't believe that stormwater stenciling is a waste of time or paint--I think it helps people realize that what we do has a direct effect on our waterways.

Look for a stormwater stenciling instruction sheet coming out soon, complete with pictures. I look forward to being a part of the stormwater campaign!

Save the date--September 15-16

We're only a few weeks away from Riverkeeper's Autumn Beach Sweep, September 15-16, sponsored by the American Littoral Society. Our cleanups keep getting bigger and better--we should have well over 30 cleanup sites all over our region.

I bike a lot along Scajaquada Creek and Niagara River, particularly on the Riverwalk trail, and the summer's accumulation of garbage is easy to see (and smell). Please think about volunteering as a site captain for the cleanup--as Riverwatch captains, your close familiarity with the waterways you monitor make you ideal site captains. You can view our site list at www.bnriverkeeper.org or you can captain a new site. The river needs YOU!

No Stenciling Today

In spite of the fluctuating sunshine downtown, we have a 70 percent chance that thunderstorms will wash our paint into the storm drain... so I'm going to play it safe and CANCEL today's stenciling.

We will try again next Thursday, August 10 at 4:00 pm. Hope for sunny skies (or at least better than half a chance at them) next week.