Fungus may hit lamprey victims

Last month, Mike LaFountaine of Rouses Point caught a 30-inch northern pike from Kings Bay. 

The fish weighed only four pounds and had two open lamprey wounds near its pectoral fins —not surprising, considering the rapid increase in sea lampreys since Vermont stopped lamprey-control treatment in 1997. 

What bothered LaFountaine even more than the wounds  was the fact that the emaciated pike had a fungus-like infection near its tail. 

This was the second pike LaFountaine, an avid fisherman,  had taken in just a matter of days that was scarred, undernourished and partially fungus-covered. He wondered what caused the fungus infection and if it was a serious problem in Lake Champlain. 

Dave Nettles of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a fishery biologist stationed in Ray Brook. He may have some answers. 

Nettles suspects the fungus is a Mycosis fungus that is not uncommon on pike and walleye and generally attacks weakened fish. 

So the lamprey attacks were more than likely the stimulus for the fungus to take hold. 

"It is a common fungus, "Nettles says, "more prevalent in some years than others. Fish that are stressed or wounded are particularly vulnerable" The cooling down of lake water, Nettles adds, usually sparks outbreaks. 

As to human safety when handling infected fish, Nettles says, "I am no pathologist, but I haven’t heard of any problems handling fish with the fungus, and normally we would be warned in advance if there was a problem doing so." In recent years, there have been concerns about the numbers and condition of pike in the northern part of the lake. In response to an article I did last spring on the apparent decline of pike in Kings Bay, most respondents blamed lampreys, but a significant number also said that over fishing contributed to the problem. 

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation generally takes a hands-off approach to researching pike, allowing these top of the food chain predators to fend for themselves. Maybe in light of the changes in Lake Champlain, that is something pike can no longer do on their own.