Southeast Region Receives Grants to Research Largemouth Bass Virus

Four recipients - - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Warm Springs Fisheries Health Center, , and the - - are working cooperatively to conduct largemouth bass virus research. Their efforts will be supported by $415,390 in grants from the Sport Fish Restoration Fund.

"Largemouth bass virus is a major concern in the Southeast because it occurs in ten southeastern states," said H. Dale Hall, the Services Southeast Deputy Regional Director. "These four groups are all researching different aspects of the problem to provide early detection and promote the health and survival rate of largemouth bass."

"We urged the According to Hall, the research money reverted from states that were unable to spend their entire Sport Fish Restoration allocation during federal fiscal year 2000 that began in October 1999 and ended on September 30, 2000. The Service collects Sport Fish Restoration funds from a voluntary excise tax paid by manufacturers of fishing and boating equipment and then distributes the money to the states based on the number of fishing licenses sold in each state. Nationwide, anglers contribute almost $300 million annually to the Sport Fish Restoration Fund.

The $415,390 in funds will be distributed as follows:

• receives $99,913 to improve the detection of the virus in infected fish.
• Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at receives $100,000 to develop a non-lethal sampling procedure for determining prior exposure of largemouth bass to the virus.
• The ServicesWarm Springs Fish Health Center in Georgia receives $116,000 to develop non-lethal sampling techniques for detecting the disease.

Largemouth bass virus only infects cold-blooded animals and, although it also occurs in other bass and sunfish species, it is only lethal to largemouth bass. All of the known fish kills have occurred during warm weather, and stress caused by water pollution or frequent handling by anglers can aggravate the virus. The virus has caused fish kills in several southeastern lakes including: Santee Cooper in South Carolina (1995); Lake Eufaula in Alabama and Georgia (1998); Greenwood Reservoir in South Carolina (1998); Sardis Reservoir in Mississippi (1998); Toledo Bend in Louisiana and Texas (1999); Table Rock Lake in Arkansas and Mississippi (1999) and Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana (1999); Monticello Lake in Arkansas (2000); and False Lake in; the , the Services in Washington, D.C.

The which encompasses more than 535 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the