Are Whitefish Getting Hammered by Whirling Disease? Is It Hurting Trout Populations?

This little bit of bad news comes courtesy of Alert Montana Correspondent Sully.

It’s about an experiment measuring the effect of whirling disease on whitefish.

Little is known about the effect of whirling disease on the less-loved whitefish, but it’s clear declining whitefish populations could also damage trout populations.

Unfortunately, a study designed to discover the effect has failed. From the Billings Gazette:

It could have been a significant bit of research into whirling disease. It could have led to some significant findings that would affect many Montana fisheries.

But a research project has been scuttled, at least temporarily, because mountain whitefish eggs collected last fall by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Ron Pierce didn’t survive.

Why do we care, you ask?

For Kumlien’s part, his suspicion is that whirling disease is hitting mountain whitefish hard. With that hit, other cold-water species like brown trout and bull trout are taking a hit, too, because whitefish are an important food source for them.

“Everyone has been looking at trout, but there’s nothing that says it isn’t hitting other cold-water species like mountain whitefish, too,” Kumlien said. “Nobody counts them. Nobody looks at them. They’re sort of second-class citizens on our rivers. It’s a puzzle part in all these rivers that we have to have an answer to.”

Plenty of anecdotal evidence suggests whitefish populations are down. Is whirling disease to blame? Sadly, we won’t know anytime soon.

[tags]fly fishing, whitefish, montana, whirling disease[/tags]