Whirling Disease UPDATE !
 

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."

Does this kill the fish or does it just harm you if you consume it?

Whirling disease info
 

Good day Everyone.

Here is an article that explains this malady very well and the recovery of the fishery after.

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

FHD

Be very careful with the article. It talks of finding the disease 13 years ago. Counting from today, the discovery would have been in 2003. In fact, WD was discovered in 1991. Recovery in the Madison is ongoing not yet realizing the same population as prior to the disease.
Life with WD is not pretty.

Don

I hear you Don. But isn't it possible that WD has been in the Bow system for a while and it was only when they started testing they "discovered" it? Not trying to minimize anything. And understand we should be doing everything possible to stop its spread.

I always found it odd that this thing never appeared to come across the 49th parallel when our rivers are so similar to Montana where WD has existed for a long time. I guess we know now it probably has been here in for a while and now we have to learn to live with it.

Myles,

The govt made a discussion to firmly stick it's collective head up it's asssss and not look.
Further, it allow or even encouraged travel by possible infected Angler's. All to benefit a tiny group who is not stuck with the consequences.

Kinda reminds me of how the Brits dealt with the Black Plauge 700 hundred hears ago. They quaratsened the offenders. Looks like history hasn't taught us anything thing.

Don

Has the Government stopped all fish farms from selling and stocking their fish? Or is it only Rainbows that they cannot sell or stock?
I saw one farm up north that sells Brown Trout and was looking for alternatives for our pond.
FHD

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

Found in 4 fish farms. Rumor is one farm had it and gave fish to 3 other farms. Allen is one by the sounds of it. They are on Lott Creek which tested positive.

So did they start it in Lott Creek or did the Elbow have it already.

Interesting and scary to see infection above Bow Falls.

Is there infection in Calgary city limits Bow River? Time will tell.

All other farms tested negative and can still stock.

I am guessing it has been here for a while. Lots of US anglers visiting the Bow without any disinfecting. Likely also in the Elk.

Confirmed in the Bow River near Exshaw , Canmore and upstream towards Banff !

Heard Jan / Feb to learn about is it in Calgary.

Now found just upstream of Ghost Lake.

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

No whirling in JNP
 

No whirling disease in JNP Tests for whirling disease in Jasper National Park came back negative,

It all seems to be in the one area. Hopefully they caught it quick enough to contain it if nothing else at least to the bow river system.

That is good news. The further away from our native rainbows in the Athabasca system the better.

http://aep.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife/...an-Jun2015.pdf

Tragic.

Whirling confirmed downstream Calgary in the Bow.


2016-11-29
Foothills Municipal District No. 31 – Bow River (downstream from the confluence of the Bow River and Highwood River)

2016-11-29
Foothills Municipal District No. 31 – Bow River (upstream from the confluence of the Bow River and Highwood River)

2016-11-29
Foothills Municipal District No. 31 – Bow River (upstream from the confluence of the Bow River and Highwood River)

2016-11-29
Foothills Municipal District No. 31 – Bow River (upstream from the confluence of the Bow River and Highwood River)

2016-11-29
City of Calgary – Elbow River (downstream from the Glenmore Reservoir)

2016-11-29
City of Calgary – Bow River (downstream from the confluence of the Bow River and Elbow River)

2016-11-29
Rocky View County - Jump Creek (upstream stream from the confluence of Jump Creek and the Bow River)


It is official.

The Bow River system is fully infected. Now to learn about the whole South Sask and North Sask Systems.

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

New positive tests


2016-12-06
Wheatland County – Bow River (near Willow Island)

2016-12-06
Wheatland County – Bow River (near Johnson Island)

Saw wd signs posted along a small creek just south of Foxcreek that flows into the Athabasca. Really sucks always had good luck there.

Its not there. Its just a warning to clue anglers in, that its in Alberta. WD signs are up at dolberg as well. They're just putting signs up to inform people that its very possible/easy to spread this into other systems.

Sitting here and had a thought about this subject.I have recently built a trailer for my inflatable and on it I have covered the bunks with carpet as it's a inflatable.In my my mind carpet is possibly the worst decision as carpet will hold water and whatever else.Im thinking I'm going to take the carpet off the bunks as carpet and basically going to be a holding place for rocks weeds ect and any suggestions would help a great deal on what to replace it with?I was considering trying to trade the trailer as well thinking that just haveing a boat trailer in the garage is useless when you have a inflatable when you could use a utility trAiler with a couple of mods just as easy then it's a multi task.

New positive tests

Wish they would list areas with 100% negative tests.

2016-12-23 Commercial aquaculture facility – Licensed by the Government of Alberta

2016-12-16 Rocky View County – Bow River (upstream from Wildcat Island)

2016-12-16 Rocky View County – Bow River (downstream from Wildcat Island)

2016-12-16 Rocky View County – Bow River (downstream from the confluence of Jumping Pound Creek and the Bow River)

2016-12-16 Rocky View County – Bow River (downstream from Wildcat Island)

2016-12-16 Rocky View County – Bow River (downstream from Mitford)

I'm a newbie to fly fishing and slowing purchasing gear before the upcoming season. I was looking at boots and thinking that felt soles would be the way to go, but after reading this thread I'll be going with rubber. Don't want to risk transferring this or any other invasive species or diseases with my boots.

You can use felt, just clean and dry them between trips.

Rinse, then thoroughly dry your boots, waders and other fishing equipment. This is generally sufficient to kill the TAM stage of the parasite
Chlorine (regular household bleach) is a very effective disinfectant, and one of the few that can kill all stages of the parasite if used at the proper concentration. However, chlorine is a very strong chemical and can harm your equipment with prolonged exposure, so make sure you rinse the chlorine off your waders and other equipment after you disinfect, and dry in the shade.
To kill the TAM stage, use 1 part chlorine to 32 parts water. It must stay in contact for about 10 seconds to assure disinfection.
To kill the mature myxospore that may be found in the mud from an infected stream is much more difficult and hard on equipment.
50% solution (1 part chlorine to 1 part water) - dip waders into a solution of the bleach or wipe or spray on.
10% solution (1 part chlorine to 9 parts water) and soak your equipment for 10 minutes.
Quaternary ammonium compounds are also effective in killing both parasite stages. These disinfectants are commercially available for disinfecting fishing equipment (Bright Water™) or for the pet/veterinary trade (Roccal-D™, Parvosol™).
Equally effective is water heated to nearly boiling (200 degrees F) poured over your gear and allowed to cool.

Haven't seen any other updates. Do you know if all testing is complete?

A map showing where they tested would be interesting.

Wd
 

There is now an information sign at the East Hillcrest Bridge. On the Crow as well.It is good to get as many people informed as possible

is the crow affected?



noooooooooooo

Now in the Crowsnest figure it must be in the Oldman also. Must also be the Elk System I would think.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/animals/.../1492020203648

At this point we should probably be more worried about speeding up the process rather then slowing it down... Obviously it is already in a bunch of these rivers and it is only a matter of time till it reaches the other ones. Get it over with and then let the populations recover, not much else can be done now.

Seems the only risk now is the North Sask, Athabasca and Peace systems.

North Sask has trout. Athabasca has native rainbows.

There may be a habitat factor that means the cycle is not as robust further north into Canada. Maybe the tubifex worms or spawning and rearing grounds are less susceptible to spreading.

We can only hope. However the hope is in seeing what must of been an infection years ago looking less of an issue now. Maybe our big floods moved enough silt that tubifex populations where hurt hard.