"Model Program for Fish Health Management in the Great Lakes: A Tool for Controling the Spread of Fish Pathogens within the Great Lakes Basin"

Consisting of members representing each of the natural resource agencies that are signatory to A Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries, the Great Lakes Fish Health Committee (GLFHC) was created in 1973 to unify and coordinate fish health management and research within the Great Lakes Basin.  To assist in these efforts, the GLFHC drafted the Model Program for Fish Health Management in the Great Lakes Basin (Model Program).  When the Model Program was first drafted in 1980, it focused exclusively on the pathogens of salmonid fishes.  Over time, the Model Program has evolved to include pathogens that affect warm and cool-water fish species.  The most recent revision of the Model Program includes recommendations and guidelines for biosecurity, the operation of fish hatcheries, fish health testing, and for the transfer of fish and fertilized eggs into and within the Great Lakes Basin.