<img src="http://www.flyfishinginmaine.org/assets/conserve/striperlogo.jpg" align="right">

Are you aware of the problem mycobacteriosis is having on striped bass? Probably not because not much is being said about it by the fisheries managers, but myco is a wasting disease that has infected as many as 80% of stripers in some parts of the Chesapeake. Myco can be transferred to humans through handling of infected fish (it is related to tuberculosis, but affects the skin and can be treated successfully with antibiotics), and may well be caused by the lack of menhaden in the diet of striped bass denying them of essential fish oils that mehnaden provide.

With the juvenile recruitment rate dropping and so many fish unable to spawn successfully due to myco, conditions are stacking up against the striped bass. Please reach out to your state fisheries managers and ask them about myco. Write to your local paper about the disease and its health implications. We need to begin to raise awareness about this serious issue.

Here's an interesting paper from the USGS on the issue:
http://www.lsc.usgs.gov/FactSheets/LSCF ... ch2008.pdf

Thanks!

[re-distributed with the permission of Stripers Forever]

That shick is effen gross.