Hybrid rainbow join war on 'whirling'

Back when whirling disease was discovered in 1991, Bruce Schmidt, then head of Utah's wild fishing program, warned that if steps weren't taken, there would be no stopping it.

Which is why he rushed a team of biologists to the Virgin River, which was connected to the private hatchery in Loa where the disease was discovered, within weeks of the finding and tried to stop it from spreading.

Unfortunately, control was taken away from wildlife and given to agriculture.

Also, the hatchery had illegally spread it to another hatchery to the north.

Now, it seems, I'm getting weekly reports of new contamination. A report from Maryland said its Department of Natural Resources killed another 20,000 hatchery trout, bringing the total to around 156,000 in hopes of stalling the spread.

Another report said the Arizona Game and Fish Department reported it had recently found the disease in trout taken at Lees Ferry below the Glen Canyon Dam.

The latest discovery here in Utah brings it one step closer to Strawberry Reservoir.

Back in March it was reported that the disease has been found roughly eight miles below the diversion pipeline that feeds into Currant Creek, which then goes into Strawberry.

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.

Among the earlier finds are Porcupine, Causey, Logan River, Provo River, Weber River, Ogden River and Otter Creek. It has also been found in the Green River above Flaming Gorge and more recently in waters on the south slopes of the Uintas, including the Duchesne River and waters around Altamont, and into four hatcheries.

As everyone probably knows by now, the disease starts with a parasite. It is spread by small worms, called tubiflex, which eat the parasite, which in turn are eaten by fish. The parasite causes, among other things, a curving of the spine in fish, which causes them to swim in circles — or whirl — and eventually die. It does not affect humans.

The best way to fight the disease is to plant fish that are most resistant, which is the brown trout. The fish most likely to be infected is the rainbow.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' experiment station in Logan has been trying to find an even better fish. Right now it's called the Ho-Ha.