ST. PAUL (AP) - There's a deadly virus spreading through the Great Lakes, causing large fish kills in the east. It even turned up in inland waters in Wisconsin last year.
The virus hasn't arrived in Minnesota yet. But if it shows up here in Lake Superior or the Mississippi River, state fisheries officials fear, it could spread to inland lakes with devastating consequences.
It's too bad Wisconsin is backing off on it's restrictions to control the spread of this virus. Sure the restrictions drive up the cost of minnows but what is the cost of the loss of large numbers of fish and what will it cost to replace them?
Our tradition is that of the first man who sneaked away to the creek when the tribe did not really need fish. ~ Roderick Haig-Brown, about modern fishing, A River Never Sleeps, 1946
