In this story from today’s Bee the year has not been good for the salmon, with 2 million being lost to this reported disease outbreak this spring.
Here is an excerpt.
Scientists to visit lake for hatchery virus clues
Samples from fish caught at Folsom to be tested for link to Nimbus outbreak.
By Edie Lau -- Bee Science Writer Published 12:01 am PDT Friday, June 16, 2006
An investigation into a disease outbreak at Nimbus Fish Hatchery this spring will bring state scientists to Folsom Lake on Saturday looking for blood.
Fish blood, that is.
Tresa Veek, an associate fish pathologist, will be at Granite Beach with colleagues from the Department of Fish and Game asking anglers for blood, tissue and organ samples from salmon and trout they catch that morning.
Fish and Game officials will collect the samples, a process that should take about five minutes, Veek said; all fishermen need do is bring over live fish, or fish that have been preserved on ice.
Veek said live fish are preferred because blood coagulates quickly in dead fish. She noted that salmon and related fish are not supposed to be kept live after being caught, but wardens will make an exception to the rule to support the investigation.
The department is trying to determine the source of the virus that caused an epidemic of infectious hematopoietic necrosis, which killed about 2 million juvenile chinook salmon at the hatchery this spring.
The outbreak is now largely over. The roughly 3 million survivors are being transferred to San Francisco Bay, said Bob Burks, hatchery assistant manager. The juveniles swim out to sea, where they spend two to five years before returning inland to spawn.
