Fisheries researchers at four southeast institutions who are studying the largemouth bass virus will receive $415,390 in grants from the Sport Fish Restoration Fund, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported.

"We urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to give the highest funding priority to Largemouth Bass Virus, and it did," said Bruce Shupp, National Conservation Director of Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S. S.). "We're really happy about this." B.A.S.S. organized two annual research meetings in 2000 and 2001, inviting fish disease experts to discuss the virus and encourage solutions.

Money will go to the fish and wildlife service's Warm Springs Fisheries Health Center in Georgia, The Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, the Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit at Mississippi State University, and the Alabama Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Auburn University.

"Largemouth bass virus is a major concern in the southeast because it occurs in 10 southeastern states," said H. Dale Hall, the service's southeast Deputy Regional Director. "These four groups are all researching different aspects of the problem to provide early detection and promote the health and survival rate of largemouth bass."

According to Hall, the research money reverted from states that were unable to spend their entire Sport Fish Restoration allocation during federal fiscal year 2000 that began in October 1999 and ended on September 30, 2000. The service collects Sport Fish Restoration funds from a voluntary excise tax paid by manufacturers of fishing and boating equipment and then distributes the money to the states based on the number of fishing licenses sold in each state. Nationwide, anglers contribute almost $300 million annually to the Sport Fish Restoration Fund.

The $415,390 will be distributed for the following programs:


  • Alabama Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Auburn University receives $99,913 to improve the detection of the virus in infected fish.

  • Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Mississippi State University receives $99,477 to research how to improve the survival of tournament-caught largemouth bass and to determine the effects of tournament handling on largemouth bass virus.

  • Louisiana State School of Veterinary Medicine receives $100,000 to develop a non-lethal sampling procedure for determining prior exposure of largemouth bass to the virus.

  • The service's Warm Springs Fish Health Center in Georgia receives $116,000 to develop non-lethal sampling techniques for detecting the disease.


Largemouth bass virus only infects cold-blooded animals and, although it also occurs in other bass and sunfish species, it is only lethal to largemouth bass. All of the known fish kills have occurred during warm weather, and stress caused by water pollution or frequent handling by anglers can aggravate the virus.

The virus has caused fish kills in several southeastern lakes including Santee Cooper in South Carolina (1995); Lake Eufaula in Alabama and Georgia (1998); Greenwood Reservoir in South Carolina (1998); Sardis Reservoir in Mississippi (1998); Toledo Bend in Louisiana and Texas (1999); Table Rock Lake in Arkansas and Missouri; Lake Ferguson and Tunica Cutoff in Mississippi (1999); Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana (1999); Monticello Lake in Arkansas (2000); and False Lake in Louisiana (2000).

Nationwide, 27 organizations will receive allocations from a total of $1.7 million in the reverted 2000 Sport Fish Restoration Account. A seven-member panel was involved in prioritizing sportfish projects for funding. They included representatives from the U.S. Geological Survey; the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Service's Division of Federal Aid in Washington D.C., and the Service's Fisheries and Habitat Conservation Division in Washington, D.C.