Jun 16, 2006 — Biologists are concerned a new fish virus may become an ongoing threat in the St. Lawrence River. DEC officials have confirmed Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia, or VHS, killed hundreds of round gobies, an invasive species, last month near Cape Vincent. The virus also killed 18 muskies, a prized native fish in the St. Lawrence. The DEC says it hasn't affected river trout or salmon populations so far. David Sommerstein spoke with John Farrell. Farrell directs SUNY ESF's Thousand Islands Biological Station near Clayton. He says the virus is common in Europe and Japan, and in saltwater in the Pacific Northwest. It first showed up in the Great Lakes watershed last year, in the Bay of Quinte in Lake Ontario.