MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin Agriculture Department is considering mandatory testing of in-state fish for a deadly fish virus after Wisconsin officials detected the virus.

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The Department of Natural Resources said that the virus, viral hemorrhagic septicemia or VHS, is responsible for massive fish kills in some great lakes and targets all species of fish. Officials said the virus is harmless to humans, but the impact to Wisconsin's $2 billion fishing industry could be devastating.

Wisconsin is the second state in the country to see fish killed on an inland lake -- in the Lake Winnebago system near Oshkosh -- and now officials are rushing to contain the virus.

The DNR has boating-related rules in the works to stop the spread of the virus. The state agriculture department might be next with expanded rules, which might force fish farms to test fish moved inside the state for VHS.

The state's nearly $9 million a year aquaculture industry has more than 300 fish farms, WISC-TV reported. And owners of one of the biggest commercial fish farms in Dodgeville said they are worried about the potential impact of the virus and public officials' response to it.

"Business is going to change. Nothing is going to be the same," said Dave Gollon, co-owner of Gollon Bait and Fish Farm. "(We have been) trying to make everything so it's pretty much disease-resistant. And now to find things are beyond our control -- it scares the daylights out of you."

Virtually millions of fish are raised on the Gollon farm. The operation raises everything from leeches to suckers to game fish, which are born in enormous stainless-steel tanks and grow in more than 100 ponds acres wide.

Gollon said that if VHS gets into the fish farm, it would likely put an end to field trips for dozens of schools each year at the farm and jack up the price of bait statewide for anglers.

"There are a lot of questions out there. There are more questions than there are answers," he said.

Gollon said that he questions whether mandatory VHS testing on all fish moved in-state will be worth the cost if various public agencies don't coordinate their response to the crisis.

"The communication level between the agencies is -- all of it, state, national -- is horrendous (for industry)," Gollon said. "It's like trying to turn an 18-wheeler around on a two-lane road."

Gollan said that national and state agencies are battling over authority and money when it comes to VHS. He said he worries about spending up to $40,000 more a year to test his fish for VHS if there are other gaps to catch the virus. Right now, Gollan said the farm is VHS negative.