Great Lakes Organizations Target Invasive Sea Lamprey

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission and Sea Lamprey Control Program are targeting the invasive species posing a risk to the fishing industry.

This week, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and Sea Lamprey Control Program chemically treated the White River in Wisconsin hoping to kill the larva in the streams before they are old enough to move into larger bodies of water. Officials say the lampricide used is safe for all other aquatic species and does not negatively affect the water for other animals. They’re also asking residents to chip in by killing any sea lamprey they find in the Great Lakes region.

According to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the sea lamprey was first discovered in the waters nearly 200 years ago. The parasitic species is physically similar to eels and feeds on the body fluid of fish over their 12-18 month feeding period. An individual sea lamprey is capable of killing up to 40 pounds of fish over that period.

While fish species in their native Atlantic Ocean have evolved to more easily survive encounters with sea lamprey, the fish in the Great Lakes are far more susceptible. As their population grew rapidly in the lakes, they decimated the fish population and caused considerable damage to the fishing industry.

In the mid-1900’s, the yearly fish haul had dropped to about 2% of previous averages and up to 85% of fish that were not killed by sea lampreys had at least been marked with attack wounds.

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission and Sea Lamprey Control Program also use barriers and traps to prevent larva from traveling upstream.