MT Fish kill parasite found in 7 other rivers

[katqanna]

Fish kill parasite found in Madison and East Gallatin rivers

Travis Horton was at the Region 3 CAC meeting last night, discussing this subject. While PKD was detected in the upper and lower Madison, East Gallatin, Bighorn, Stillwater, Boulder near Big Timber, Jefferson and Shields rivers, they don't know yet if it is genetically the same strain, they are running tests on that to see.

 

[Southern Elk]

This is bad news. So much of the local economy of SW MT is built around trout fishing. The water would be cooler, if millions of gallons weren't being pulled off for irrigation. I've floated the Madison and there are irrigation ditches everywhere. I think some of the feeder creeks have water pulled off of them before they even reach the Madison. I know very little about water rights, but I don't see that changing. I believe this is a problem that we are going to see more of. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[James Riley]

I know very little about water rights, but I don't see that changing. I believe this is a problem that we are going to see more of. I hope I'm wrong.

This ^^^.

 

[katqanna]

PKD is happening in other states and areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Europe is citing climate change.

Life cycle complexity, environmental change and the emerging status of salmonid proliferative kidney disease 2011

The disease, Proliferative Kidney Disease (PKD), has been killing farmed trout for decades. In the last 20 years, it has taken an increasing toll on wild trout populations in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. It has also killed salmon in Norway and Arctic char in Iceland, where studies on the outbreaks suggest links with warmer water temperatures...

A growing body of science suggests links between outbreaks of PKD with increased temperatures and lower flows, according to Daniel Isaak, an aquatic biologist with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station in Boise. In recent studies, Isaak and partner researchers have developed detailed maps and models of how cold-water fish habitat is likely to change in the West—and how proactive management can help. Healthy ecosystems are more resilient to climate change than those compromised by other factors like water diversions, runoff from burned areas or chemical pollution…

Muhlfeld, the U.S. Geological Survey researcher, agreed.
'We can build resiliency in these systems. The fish can rebound if they have, cold, clean, connected and complex habitats, and now's the time to do that work.

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