Morning Read: Could contaminated Vermont fish be sent to North Country?
State and Federal officials are scrambling to figure out what to do with a major fish hatchery in Vermont that has long supplied fish for trout and salmon restoration projects from the Connecticut River to Lake Ontario.
The problem is that the Bethel Fish Hatchery sits on the White River which is now contaminated with “didymo” or “rock snot,” a kind of invasive algae that has been spreading in the Northeast.
During the floods from tropical storm Irene, some of that river water made its way into the hatchery, possibly exposing the stock of fish.
This from the Associated Press.
The hatchery also contains about 434,000 lake trout destined for lakes Ontario and Erie. A separate decision about whether those fish can be safely released without spreading rock snot, or whether they will have to be disposed of, is expected later this month.
The hatchery has already had to dispose of thousands of Atlantic salmon that had been set for release in the Connecticut River basin.
Tags: environment, vermont
There must be some means of determining whether these fish are contaminated. Under no circumstance should we allow the transmission of yet another invasive into the great lakes, and if it means disposing of these fish and ordering a new batch, so be it. File a claim with FEMA.
Unless they can be 100% sure these fish will not carry the organism, then they should be stocked in waters where it is already confirmed and present.