Whirling Disease UPDATE !

[McLeod]

Whirling disease affecting fish confirmed in 6 more locations near Banff National Park
Disease first detected in Johnson Lake on Aug. 23


Whirling disease which affects salmon and trout has been detected in six more locations near Banff National Park.

Deadly whirling disease in fish has spread from Banff to Bow River
Officials have confirmed the deadly whirling disease, which affects fish, has been found at six more locations in waterways near Banff National Park.

Posted to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website on Monday, the six latest locations include:

Spray River upstream from the confluence of the Cascade River and Cascade Creek.
Cascade Creek upstream from the confluence of the Cascade River and Cascade Creek.
Carrot Creek upstream of the confluence of Cascade River and Cascade Creek.
Bow River near Tunnel Mountain.
Lower Cascade River upstream from the confluence of the Bow River and the Cascade River.
Bow River downstream from the confluence of the Bow River and Carrot Creek.
Whirling disease affects trout and salmon and can cause infected fish to swim in a whirling pattern and die prematurely.

It was first detected in Johnson Lake on Aug. 23.

Whirling disease in fish found in Banff lake a 1st in Canada, officials say
Deadly whirling disease in fish has spread from Banff to Bow River
A note on the CFIA website reads "Additional detections of whirling disease from the ongoing sampling and testing do not mean the disease is spreading. Whirling disease may have been present for several years and the ongoing sampling will help determine the extent of the distribution and the most appropriate disease response."

[Bemoredog]

There really isn't any way to stop this now that it's here. They need to start measuring how this is impacting populations in terms of mortality and come up with a strategy to preserve existing populations and/or impart some level of resistance.

In Colorado they mixed their wild bows with whirling disease resistant Hofer rainbows. So far it seems to have worked but it took time and has trade offs. (The Hofers aren't as spooky as their wild brethren and are easier pickings for predators). Over time the stocker traits should be minimized while the whirling disease resistance should be retained a la natural selection. Hopefully they have or are planning on acquiring a brood stock of Bow River Bows just in case...

[Bemoredog]

It depends when and where the cutties spawn. If they can grow beyond 3 to 4 inches without coming into contact with the spores they'll be ok... large populations might be okay but will probably see populations decimated in the short term. Small populations will disappear. All very unfortunate however.

[Sloughsharkjigger]

I'm no expert by no means but from what I understand this issue could be an uphill battle for years to come.

Key is to prevent further spread, which means close watercourses, try to develop a biological response and prepare ourselves to just let it run its course. Sounds harsh but we must concide that this could take years to correct itself... much like Mountain Pine Beetle.

[Don Andersen]

As there was no effort to stop importation of WD, we got what we deserved. Just another example of quality fisheries management by both fishermen and Govt.
Looks like most states have just rolled over and live with the disease. Montana hasn't done much for the past years even though the impact has been huge.

Don

[FlyTheory]

The benefit is we may see WD resistance within the next 50 years if there are lucky fish with the genetic mutations that provide resistance. One can hope! But having said that, let's hope the native salmonids don't suffer as much as the introduced ones. I'd rather have browns die than bulls and cutts

[Bemoredog]

Originally Posted by FlyTheory

The benefit is we may see WD resistance within the next 50 years if there are lucky fish with the genetic mutations that provide resistance. One can hope! But having said that, let's hope the native salmonids don't suffer as much as the introduced ones. I'd rather have browns die than bulls and cutts

Unfortunately Brown's are basically immune to the disease. They carry it but it rarely has any effect on them. Bull's, like Lake Trout, should possess high resistance. A lot has to do with spawning time as well.

For a number of years people assumed Brook Trout were immune, but it turns out it's simply because they spawn during periods when the disease isn't active so the Brook fry have a chance to grow large enough that the disease doesn't impact them.

The good news is that Bow River Rainbows have been known to spawn throughout the year. This increases the odds of fry reaching the critical 3 to 4 inch size range and avoiding infection.

It's possible Cutties might be OK if they spawn when temps restrict the disease. I've read cutties spawn when water is between 6 and 8 Celsius, while the spores are most active between 7 and 13 Celsius, so it's possible many cutties could avoid infection, but not something I would bet on.

[FlyTheory]

Originally Posted by Bemoredog

Unfortunately Brown's are basically immune to the disease. They carry it but it rarely has any effect on them. Bull's, like Lake Trout, should possess high resistance. A lot has to do with spawning time as well.

For a number of years people assumed Brook Trout were immune, but it turns out it's simply because they spawn during periods when the disease isn't active so the Brook fry have a chance to grow large enough that the disease doesn't impact them.

The good news is that Bow River Rainbows have been known to spawn throughout the year. This increases the odds of fry reaching the critical 3 to 4 inch size range and avoiding infection.

It's possible Cutties might be OK if they spawn when temps restrict the disease. I've read cutties spawn when water is between 6 and 8 Celsius, while the spores are most active between 7 and 13 Celsius, so it's possible many cutties could avoid infection, but not something I would bet on.

Very informative, thank you Bemoredog

[Heavy K]

Another thing to also consider is that the positive tests (so far) seem to have all been from contiguous waters in and around Johnson Lakes and that section of the Bow, though I'm not sure how the Spray River could possibly connect to Cascade Creek (perhaps that's a typo in the news article). I'm assuming that's meant to say the lower Spray River upstream of it's confluence with the Bow. Given the closures they instigated earlier in the month, I'm assuming they certainly would have field data from elsewhere in the area. Perhaps those data haven't come in yet, but maybe it's come back negative. One can only hope...

[Heavy K]

Originally Posted by Jet

I've been thinking about this. Tests are $300 a pop and you need to harvest about 60 fish per test, you also have limited resources (people) to catch the fish and it takes time, minimum you're talking 3-4 days per test per location just to get the fish and get it to the lab (factoring in the government and that could be longer). Then the test will likely take some time to run as it involves digestion by proteases too.

Given that, you know where you have it for sure, then you test the flowing waters in and out from that location and work out from there checking further and further away from the source. Likely we're not going to know the full extent of it till next year.

Maybe, but they've had a lot of those sites closed for almost a month now. You can run 50-100 simultaneous PCRs on any old thermocycler. And that's just standard lab equipment. Even if you have a digest step that lasts a couple days (which is unlikely, but maybe), you can still process a lot samples in real short order, especially if you're set up for it. I suspect someone will know pretty soon just how far and wide it's already spread. I think it's likely we'll see it pop up in a few other places that are directly connected to ground zero, but hopefully not everywhere. Maybe I'm just being optimistic.

[fishinhogdaddy]

More info from Montana.

http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/ar...ingdisease.htm

FHD

[Bemoredog]

Originally Posted by fishinhogdaddy

More info from Montana.

http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/ar...ingdisease.htm

FHD

I'd second reading this article. It's very informative and where I got much of my info on the disease. Some quotes.

"Hunter is especially concerned about threats to small, isolated populations of increasingly rare westslope and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. “With large trout populations like those in the Missouri River, you have more genetic diversity to help withstand the effects of disease,” he says. “But whirling disease could easily wipe out a small population of native cutthroats living in a remote mountain stream.”

"The Missouri River between Holter Dam and Cascade, one of Montana’s top rainbow trout fisheries, is another puzzle. In 1998 biologists found severe levels of whirling disease in Little *****ly Pear Creek, one of the river’s major rainbow trout spawning tributaries. Three years later, they discovered the disease-causing parasite in the Dearborn River, an even larger tributary; in 2004, they recorded major disease levels there. Inexplicably, however, rainbow trout populations on the Missouri have remained among the strongest in the state, today numbering over 2,500 per mile in the popular Craig section." (this is interesting since the 2,500 per mile figure is also attributed to the Bow's blue ribbon section)

"Yet Horton says the one-third recruitment reduction has not translated into a similar decline in adult rainbow numbers. In fact, numbers have increased. Before whirling disease struck, the upper Missouri around Craig averaged about 500 trophy trout per mile. In the past two years, the number has been roughly 1,500. “The average number of mid-sized adult rainbows (14 to 17 inches) is right at the pre–whirling disease average,” Horton says. “But the average number of trophy rainbows (over 17 inches) is well above what we saw in the years before whirling disease.”

"Vincent also is puzzled by the Missouri. “The life cycle of the M. cerebralis parasite is extremely complicated,” he says. “Con*ditions have to be just right for the disease to take hold. The window of disease development is narrow—only when fish are about 1 to 2 inches long. After that, they are safe from the disease.”

"For years, scientists had wondered why brook trout living in infected waters did not become sick. It turns out that brookies, a non-native species, aren’t immune at all; most avoid infestation because they spawn in the fall. The fry emerge from eggs in February, when many streams are still too cold for the infected tubifex worms to release their lethal bounty of TAMs. Rainbows, on the other hand, spawn in the spring. Their fry hatch in early summer, when most streams have warmed to the 45- to 55-degree temperatures that trigger TAM dispersal."

I suppose one way to save our native cutties is to get a wild broodstock and stock fish larger than 3 inches into lakes, rivers and streams. Probably costly though and not an actual long term solution. They could also try a hybrid Hofer bow x cutthroat to impart disease resistance, but then we've lost the original cutthroat.

Optimistically: All it takes is for a few cutties to survive through the disease and pass their genes onto the next generation. Population rebuilding will take some time, but once there is a disease resistant population of cutties other streams could be repopulated. It's gonna be a long road though.

[Don Andersen]

Be careful with the article. Dates quoted can be misleading.

Don

[waterninja]

Very informative thread.
Fishing in AB seems to get worse and worse every year.

[Bemoredog]

Originally Posted by Jet

As expected, it's now been found outside the park and more widespread:

1. In a Trout Hatchery in Lacombe

2. Lott Creek (just upstream of the Elbow River) (near Tsuu Tina)

Excellent example of the mismanagement of our fisheries.

Good chance this would wipe out bows and possibly whitefish in the elbow since it's a small river with low populations. Guess that leaves brookies up towards the rockies and maybe some small browns. Should still be some Pike as well.

Scary that it was in the hatchery. Makes me wonder was the hatchery the source or did the brood stock get it because eggs were pulled from an infected lake? They're gonna have to figure out what lakes were stocked from the Lacombe hatchery and investigate those water bodies as well.

Thing is, suppose some of the brood from Lacombe wa used to stock Chain. It won't be easy to "clean" chain by just killing the fish with rotenone. Research suggests that the parasite can live dormant in a lake for decades. So kill all the fish, wait a year or two, restock. The parasite is probably still there.

Whirling disease is pretty much a fact of life now and we're just going to need to accept it and find ways to give our trout populations a fighting chance. It's too late to stop it. Further, I'd expect greater scrutiny from fish and fur if you go to BC or SK now. Good times. Probably won't be long til whirling disease shows up on the BC side though.

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by Jet

As expected, it's now been found outside the park and more widespread:

1. In a Trout Hatchery in Lacombe

2. Lott Creek (just upstream of the Elbow River) (near Tsuu Tina)

Excellent example of the mismanagement of our fisheries.

Lott creek is basically stocked with rainbows that have "escaped" from Allen's Trout Farm. This hatchery/farm was built right into the creek, it is fed by and releases its water into Lott Creek. There are a few beaver dams that prevent Elbow River fish from coming into Lott Creek, but high water often flushes fish from Lott into the Elbow.

If Lott Creek waters are infected, so is Allen's Trout Farm, and likely the trout that he has sold to hundreds/thousands of dugout and private lake owners. This business has been convicted of many illegal aquaculture violations.... NOTHING that this operation does would surprise me at this point.

Will the government allow Allen's Fish Farm to continue operating knowing that its watercourse is infected with Whirling disease?

[cube]

Originally Posted by Jet

More locations, but the press has stopped reporting on it:

It's been found at 3 more hatcheries now:

http://inspection.gc.ca/animals/aqua.../1473443993551

seems to be working now.

Thanks

[cube]

Originally Posted by Jet

More locations, but the press has stopped reporting on it:

It's been found at 3 more hatcheries now:

http://inspection.gc.ca/animals/aqua.../1473443993551

When the Alberta Gov't started down this commercialization of aqua culture they were told this would likely be the consequence.

It is expensive to do the proper testing and monitoring and most commercial places don't like having to do this high cost monitoring.

[Fishfri]

I noticed something at Winchell lake in spring time. I think shortly after it was stocked. It was the third fish I caught. I asked about the hump near its tail. Looked like a injury.
Now thinking about it, the fish was deformed about 2-3 inched from its tail. The rainbow was about 7 inches.
Once again I think it was spring time. Might of been fall. I forgot about it til I started to read this thread.

[Fishfri]

Originally Posted by Jet

Might be an idea to report it to F&W.

I think I just did.