Keep fish healthy, avoid a ticketMADISON – A new public service announcement [VIDEO Length 00:41] is now available online to demonstrate to anglers an important but too often overlooked step to prevent the spread of VHS fish disease, zebra mussels and other aquatic invasive species to new lakes and rivers.
The 30-second video can be found on the Department of Natural Resources Web site and it shows how anglers, before they leave their shore fishing spot or boat landing, should put their catch on ice and drain water out of the container that had been holding their catch. VHS rules require the draining of water from boats, containers and fishing equipment and prohibit moving live fish away from a lake or river except for leftover minnows bought from Wisconsin bait dealers and transported away under certain conditions.
DNR Chief Warden Randy Starks directed DNR staffer Mary Farmiloe to create the spot after warden reports that too many anglers were leaving for the day with their live catch in a bucket full of water.
“We're hoping that by demonstrating what it looks like to comply with the law through this video, we'll get better voluntary compliance,” Stark says. “Our experience is that once people understand what it is they need to do, most people voluntarily comply. We intend to step up enforcement efforts with those who choose not to comply.”
A fall 2008 University of Wisconsin Badger Poll: Boaters and anglers taking steps to prevent spread of invasive species (Dec. 9, 2008) showed that while people did a good job overall in taking the steps necessary to prevent the spread of VHS fish disease and aquatic invasive species, only 58.6 percent of respondents said they never move live fish away from the lake or river where they are fishing.
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