Re: NANFA-L-- Releasing native fish back to the wild -- EVER

Bonnie McNeely (bnmcneely-in-sbcglobal.net)
Wed, 23 Aug 2006 13:29:23 -0700 (PDT)

Jase, your question is a good one. Many biologists now address it, though most seem not to do so very rigorously. They do such things as place collecting equipment in the sun, wash it, and treat it chemically. I don't think many "sterilize" it so that it is clinically organism free.

Snails, including snails from Asia, have been introduced to new locations in North America by biologists collecting equipment. The almost worldwide spread of the chytrid that infects amphibians and has caused the severe decline of some populations is believed (I don't know if it is definitely known) to have been spread on collecting equipment and boots of biologists.

Dave Mc

Jase Roberts <nanfa_list-in-jaseroberts.net> wrote:
... And here's a further thought exercise: If we're supposed to be worried about transporting disease between different local bodies of water, is everyone sterilizing their equipment between collecting sites?

Is there a difference between these two scenarios:?

1) Collect one fish from "Site A", and another fish from "Site B", 10 miles down the road. Keep them together in good water quality for 6 months, and release them back to their respective collection sites (assuming both appear disease-free).

2) Haul a seine load of several hundred flipping fish from "Site A", dump them back, then drive down the road and start seining at "Site B" 15 minutes later.

If anything, I'd assume there's equal or greater chance of transporting diseases on a wet seine that is in direct contact with hundreds of fish -- at least for ectoparasites, viruses, bacteria, and anything that forms free-floating eggs, larvae, or cysts.

I'm not necessarily advocating for releasing fish back to the wild (in the same area where they were collected, of course) -- but I want to know if there are *scientifically sound* reasons for not doing so.

Thanks,
Jase

-- 
Jase Roberts
Lewiston, Maine
on the Androscoggin River
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