The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Tuesday announced that the emergency regulations to help prevent the spread of Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia to additional waters in the state have been extended. The 21-day extension took place on February 16, 2007, and will continue the existing provisions which were enacted on November 21, 2006, that limit the release, possession, and taking of certain bait and other live fish species.

The extension of the current VHS emergency regulations is necessary to prevent a gap in protecting the state's fisheries resources while the DEC addresses the public comments submitted on the proposed permanent rulemaking that was also announced on November 21, 2006. This extension of the emergency regulation will be effective through Friday, March 9, 2007.

DEC expects to issue new, revised emergency regulations soon, which would take effect immediately. DEC will also soon propose revised permanent regulations that reflect the public comments received during the initial comment period that ended on January 22, 2007. The revised regulations are in the process of being developed and it is anticipated that they will incorporate many of the public comments received to date. In order to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the proposed revisions, DEC will commence another public comment period, with details available when the revisions are announced.

VHS is a serious pathogen of fresh and saltwater fish that is causing an emerging disease in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada. VHS is a pathogen of fish and does not pose any threat to public health. VHS can be spread from waterbody to waterbody through a variety of means, not all of them known at this point. One known mechanism is through the movement of fish, including bait fish.