VHS Found in Yellow Perch During Annual Spawning Assessment 8-26-2011
gengberg August 26th, 2011
VHS found in yellow perch during annual spawning assessment
The yellow perch tested for VHS were collected in June from the Green Can spawning reef offshore of Milwaukee. DNR was conducting its annual spawning assessment and wanted to test the fish for VHS because “we were observing low numbers of male yellow perch in the survey and those males were not sexually mature,” says Brad Eggold, DNR southern Lake Michigan fisheries supervisor.VHS work was done in conjunction with other tests. The Wisconsin Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory in Madison notified DNR of the positive VHS result earlier this month.
The finding marks the second time VHS has been found in spawning yellow perch at the Green Can reef. The first detection was from fish sampled June 5, 2008. 
VHS testing was not done in the intervening years of yellow perch from Lake Michigan; once the virus has been confirmed in a particular fish species from Lake Michigan, DNR directs its limited surveillance testing dollars to monitoring other waters to see if VHS has spread.
The yellow perch lab results show that VHS virus is still present and being shed by yellow perch during spawning. The prolonged spring and cooler early summer water temperatures may have created an extended window for VHS to infect fish in 2011, Marcquenski says.
Despite the yellow perch testing positive for VHS, DNR received no reports of dead or dying fish from anglers, Eggold says. “So at this time it’s hard to speculate on the impacts of VHS on the yellow perch population although having a continued threat from an invasive like VHS is not good for the fisheries in Lake Michigan,” he says.
Alewives test negative for VHS
Alewivesthat washed ashore Lake Michigan beaches earlier this summer do not have VHS, test results show. It may be a seasonal pattern, Eggold says.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue Marcquenski - (608) 266-2871 or Brad Eggold - (414) 382-7921
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