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MADISON, Wis. — State agriculture officials issue more rules to combat the spread of a deadly fish virus.
Beginning immediately, the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is requiring all fish stocked into Wisconsin’s public waters to be tested specifically for the VHS virus that causes a wide variety of fish to bleed to death.
The rules also call for testing bait fish susceptible to the virus and fish raised in private ponds or fish farms before they can be stocked.
Farmers can continue to move fish between farms with only a health certificate, which doesn’t require a VHS test. But they will have to test the fish before stocking public waters.
VHS has been spreading in the Great Lakes and inland waters.
