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SANTA FE, NM — Preliminary tests show two state-operated trout hatcheries could be contaminated with whirling disease, and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish has suspended stocking any fish from those facilities. In addition, no fish are being transferred between any state hatcheries.
Mike Sloane, assistant chief of fisheries for the Department, said trout from the Lisboa Springs Hatchery near Pecos and the Seven Springs Hatchery in the Jemez Mountains tested positive for whirling disease earlier this week. Additional tests to confirm the presence of the parasite that causes whirling disease are being conducted at all six New Mexico hatcheries. The results should be available in two to three weeks.
“We sampled the sickest fish we could find during a routine health inspection,” Sloane said, “and these two hatcheries have indications they may have whirling disease.”
Whirling disease is spread by microscopic spores found on the bottom of ponds, lakes and rivers. It cannot be contracted by humans. The spores are eaten by tubifex worms, and develop into Triactinomyons while inside the worms. The Triactinomyons are released from the tubifex worms into the water, where they cling to the bodies of trout and burrow into the fish’s nervous system. Another metamorphosis within the fish results in a mature spore attacking the cartilage right behind the fish’s head. After several weeks, that results in spinal deformities and “whirling” motions by the fish. Black tails are additional evidence of a whirling-disease infection.
Sloane said no fish showed any symptoms of whirling disease at any hatcheries. He said juvenile spores were found in the recent tests, which could indicate this is a recent infestation. “But we’ll know more after we get confirmation,” he said. “And this could be just a false positive.”
Young rainbow trout, which are raised at all six New Mexico hatcheries, are particularly susceptible to whirling disease. The disease has decimated several good fisheries in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. This is the first time whirling disease has been suspected in any public waters in New Mexico. It has been found in several private ponds in Northern New Mexico, and was traced to private hatcheries which had stocked trout in private ponds. Hatcheries that test positive in other states continue to produce fish, however, stocking those fish is confined to contaminated waters.
“It’s too early to postulate about where this came from,” Sloane said. “However, the indications of whirling disease were found in river-water raceways at Lisboa Springs.”
Seven Springs Hatchery was tested in March and was found whirling-disease free at that time. It’s possible that rainbow trout moved from Lisboa Springs to Seven Springs spread the suspected contamination. Sloane said the state has suspended all transfers of fish within its hatchery system.
New Mexico operates trout hatcheries at Parkview, Red River, Rock Lake and Glenwood in addition to Seven Springs and Lisboa Springs. Game and Fish stocked almost 4 million rainbow trout in the last fiscal year.
Uploaded: 10/29/1999
Uploaded: 10/29/1999