Great Lakes carriers back effort to fight fish virus

U.S.-flag ships operating on the Great Lakes are adopting new measures to reduce the risk associated with one of several ways a fishing-killing virus could enter Lake Superior.

Members of Lake Carriers' Association (LCA) said they would conduct ballast water exchange when possible or implement other measures when taking on ballast in areas known to be infected by the virus known as Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS).

The LCA said, Although some believe the VHS fish virus may already be in Lake Superior, as of this writing, there have been no confirmed findings of VHS or fish kills associated with it in Lake Superior. The VHS fish virus has been found in Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario, as well as inland lakes in Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and the Canadian Province of Ontario.

The LCA said that when the Council of Lake Committees (CLC), supported by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, scientifically determines there is a VHS-related active fish kill in the immediate vicinity of ballasting vessels bound for Lake Superior, the CLC will notify the U.S. Coast Guard, who will forward the notification to U.S.-flag Lakers, and they will take a variety of stems such as minimizing the uptake of ballast in near shore locations where fish populations are most dense, and conducting a ballast exchange before entering Lake Superior or exchanging ballast in deep remote waters of Lake Superior.

But LCA President James H.I. Weakley said, The government and general public must understand there are compelling reasons why we should not make ballast exchange mandatory for Lakers as it is for oceangoing vessels. Oceangoing vessels are built to different strength standards.

Lakers were designed for much different operating conditions. If done improperly, a vessel engaged in ballast operations risks a catastrophic structural failure, unrecoverable roll or capsizing. Also, the dynamic and static loads endured by repeated ballast operations could lead to excessive metal fatigue and premature structural failure. We cannot endanger the lives of our crews, he said. 

Source: American Shipper