Wisconsin legislators need to stop the "next" VHS. Wisconsin Wildlife Federation executive director George Meyer says the fish killing disease Viral Hemorrhagic Septicimia is just one example of the sorts of destructive invasive species that have entered Wisconsin waters through the ballast of oceangoing ships. "The international shipping industry has been very resistant to treating ballast water," says Meyer, adding that the industry has resisted efforts at regulation.
But this past summer a federal court has upheld a Michigan law regulating ships' ballast, and Meyer says it's past time for Wisconsin lawmakers enact similar legislation. Ballast regulation bills have been introduced in the Assembly and Senate , but the lengthy budget battle meant neither has come to a vote yet.
