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Michigan confirms state’s first case of chronic wasting disease in deer
The Michigan DNR and Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed that a free-ranging deer in Meridian Township (Ingham County) has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose.
Ingham County is located southeast of Lansing.
This is the first time the disease has been found in Michigan's free-ranging deer population. In 2008 a white-tailed deer from a privately owned cervid (POC) facility in Kent County tested positive for CWD.
The animal was observed last month wandering around a Meridian Township residence and showing signs of illness. The homeowner contacted the Meridian Township Police Department, who then sent an officer to euthanize the animal. The deer was collected by a DNR wildlife biologist and delivered for initial testing to the DNR Wildlife Disease Laboratory at the Michigan State University Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health in Lansing, Michigan. After initial tests were positive, samples were forwarded to the U.S. Department of Agricultureís National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for final confirmation. The Michigan DNR received that positive confirmation last week.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR will collect eggs from Great Lakes muskellunge in the Detroit River to be reared at the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan and stocked in Michigan waters this fall.
Collecting Great Lakes muskellunge eggs began in 2011 in an effort to rear a type of muskellunge that is native to most Michigan waters. In 2014, approximately 430,000 eggs were collected from the Detroit River. Those eggs produced more than 36,000 fish that were stocked in 21 inland lakes and rivers, two of which will serve as broodstock lakes for egg collections in the future.
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
State game area managers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources are seeking public input on several draft master plans for state game areas located in the southwestern region of the state.
According to Steve Chadwick, supervisor for the DNR Wildlife Division's southwestern region, these master plans are important in guiding habitat management, based on both the featured species selected for management at each state game area and use of the areas for recreation such as hunting and wildlife viewing.
"In crafting these master plans, we also take into consideration how management of the state game areas affects local economies through activities like timber sales, agricultural production and wildlife-based tourism," said Chadwick.
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The Michigan DNR recently released data from its 2014 state-licensed commercial fishing season. Combined, the state-licensed commercial fishery caught nearly 3,414,000 pounds of fish with an estimated wholesale dockside value of more than $5.8 million prior to processing, marketing and retail sales.
While the state's total harvest was about 200,000 pounds less than in 2013, the fisheryís estimated gross dockside value was up $300,000 (more than 5 percent). The increase in the fishery's value is almost exclusively attributed to a more-than-15-percent increase in the wholesale price of lake whitefish. This species' value has gone up more than 50 percent in the past two years.
"Lake whitefish is by far the most important commercial fish species in the Great Lakes, and a delicious option many consumers will find at their favorite local Michigan restaurant or retailer," said Tom Goniea, DNR commercial fisheries biologist. "The price of whitefish has been on the rise since 2010, but the increase in demand has accelerated in the past couple of years."
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(Provided by Michigan DNR)
The Michigan DNR reminds anglers and retail minnow dealers of the baitfish regulations that need to be followed in Michigan. Although the requirement for state licensed bait retailers to provide customers with receipts upon purchasing live minnows no longer exists, all other regulations with respect to minnow use continue to be enforced.
Baitfish regulations were enacted in 2006 to reduce the potential for baitfish to move fish diseases as the state saw multiple fish die-offs in lakes Erie and Huron from viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSv).
“While fish kills from VHS have become less common, we do not want this fish pathogen to spread across Michigan,” said Tom Goniea, DNR fisheries biologist. “Our regulations are designed to prevent this from occurring.”