NEW BEDFORD, Mass. โ August 15, 2012 โ Warming water temperatures may be causing an increase in the number of striped bass that have lesions from a viral or bacterial infection, the state Division of Marine Fisheries said.
While the number of infected fish is estimated at less than 5 percent of those landed along the entire Massachusetts coastline, the infection rate is higher in fish caught in the Cape Cod Canal and Buzzards Bay, according to a state advisory issued last month.
So far, there is no evidence of the bacterial disease mycobacteriosis that has become prolific among striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay, according to the fisheries division, but the agency urged caution in handling fish because the disease can be transferred to humans through contact.
Those reporting issues in Massachusetts have described small red spots on the white underbelly of fish. Any fish with large open lesions or darkened patches of meat should be discarded.
Visual tests have not discovered any mycobacteriosis in striped bass landed in Massachusetts yet but samples are getting more intensive tests at the University of Connecticut, Paul Diodati, director of the Division of Marine Fisheries said Tuesday.
Lou MacKeil, vice-president of environmental affairs for the Cape Cod Salties Sportfishing Club, who fishes every day for bass, said at least one fellow fisherman caught bass with spots, took photos and submitted them to the state. But MacKeil said he has no personal experience with the bacteria.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times.