Whirling disease near Strawberry

Whirling disease is a step closer to squirming its way into Strawberry Reservoir.

It has always been an accepted fact that whirling disease would eventually make its way into Utah's most popular fishing water. Now it appears the disease may hit sooner than later.

The disease has been found roughly eight miles below the diversion pipeline that feeds into Currant Creek and then into Strawberry.

Officials of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources were notified last November that fish from a private hatchery were shipped to a pond near Hana. At the time the hatchery was certified clean by the Utah Department of Agriculture but was later found to have an incidence of whirling disease.

"We checked the Duchesne River above and below the private pond. We found a minor incidence below, but nothing above," reported Roger Wilson, sports-fishing coordinator for the DWR.

"To be on the safe side, we checked near the confluence of the West Fork and North Fork of the Duchesne and found a high incidence of spores."

It's difficult to determine the source of the contamination, whether it spread from the private pond or was transported there by another source.

"What's happening is, in some cases, we're finding whirling disease near roads and campgrounds, which means the spores could be brought in by fishermen or on the tires of trucks or by people cleaning contaminated fish caught somewhere else and brought to a location," said Wilson.

Samples taken from a site above the confluence were negative. A full sample of 60 fish was tested.

The concern is that spores could get into waters above the diversion, in which case they would have direct access to Currant Creek and Strawberry and eventually into Diamond Fork.

Whirling disease is more of a threat to Strawberry than some other waters, continued Wilson, "because it can have a real impact on natural reproduction.

"We've seen as much as 60 percent natural reproduction of (Bear Lake) cutthroat in Strawberry. It's not that high now, but (natural reproduction) does put a lot of fish into Strawberry."

Only the very young of the year — fish four inches long and smaller — are susceptible, which puts fish born in Strawberry at risk. Because of new stocking policies, the sterile rainbow being put in Strawberry are larger fish and are able to fend off the disease.