8057

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8057
• Author: Bennett, J. R., D. A. Krieger, T. P. Nesler, L. E. Harris and R. B. Nehring.
• Title: An Assessment Of Fishery Management And Fish Production Alternatives To Reduce The Impact Of Whirling Disease In Colorado.
• USFW Year: 1996.
• USFW - Doc Type: Denver, Colorado.
• Copyright Material: NO

Based on both public and government input and available scientific information, the WD
policy was modified again on December 1, 1988. A major change was to give the managers of
quarantined facilities the responsibility to complete their own forms without DOW inspection. A
training session was conducted in November 1988 to prepare private hatchery managers for
assuming this responsibility. Regional biologists were still responsible for approving DOW
stocking locations. Other changes included reducing the stocking criteria for WD- fish to three
specific areas: negative river drainages; negative fish culture locations; and protection of
cutthroat trout habitat. The December 1988 WD policy and corresponding quarantines remained
in effect until January 1992, when the quarantines were removed and procedures for management
of WD-positive hatcheries were placed in DOW regulations. In June 1991 the legislature passed
the "Colorado Aquaculture Act," which created the Fish Health Board. The Board consisted of
five members: two members from the private aquaculture community appointed by the Colorado
Dept. of Agriculture; one member from the Colorado Dept. of Agriculture; one member from the
USFWS; and one representative from the DOW. The primary duty of this Board was to advise
the CWC on matters concerning fish health. One of the first official acts of the Board was to
come before the CWC to present an argument that the WD quarantines should be removed and
the organism managed through regulations. The CWC agreed; consequently, the quarantines
were removed and management of WD was placed in the General Provisions, Article IX, #009, G,
which stated, "No live salmonid fish originating from a facility that has been diagnosed positive
for Myxobolus cerebralis (whirling disease) may be stocked (A) in water within ten (10) miles of
and within the same drainage as any state, federal, or permitted aquaculture facility unless the
owners of all such facilities grant written permission to allow such stocking, or (B) within the
protected habitat of Type A greenback, Colorado River, or Rio Grande cutthroat trout. Maps
indicating the locations of state, federal, and permitted aquaculture facilities and known protected
habitat of Type A greenback, Colorado River, or Rio Grande cutthroats are available from the
manager of Aquatic Resources Section of the DOW, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216."
The regulation remained in place until September 1993, when the Fish Health Board again
petitioned the CWC to change the wording of the regulation. The new proposed regulation
would simplify the language and could also be used to expand the protected areas, if necessary.
In December 1993, the CWC approved the new wording. General Provisions Article IX, #009,
G, now reads, "No live salmonid fish originating from a facility that has been diagnosed positive
for Myxobolus cerebralis (WD) may be stocked in protected habitat as defined in CWC
regulation #001 V.5. Maps showing the locations of approved protected habitats are available
from the manager of the Aquatic Resources Section of the DOW, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO
80216." The corresponding regulation, Article #001, V. 5, defines protected habitat as "Specific
areas determined by the Director, after consultation with the Fish Health Board, to be of special
importance to Colorado's fishery resource. Protected habitat evaluation criteria will include
uniqueness of the resource (species, habitat, or facilities), potential for use as a source of brood
fish or gametes, potential for use in recovering threatened or endangered species, and significance
of the threat of introducing certain pathogens or diseases. Maps showing the locations of
approved protected habitats are available from the manager of the Aquatic Resources Sections of
the DOW, 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216."
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