Development and Implementation of an Integrated Program for Control of Sea Lampreys in the St. Marys River

Re-examination of sea lamprey control policies for the St. Marys River: completion of an adaptive management cycle

“…Coordinated efforts by the GLFC to control sea lampreys in the Great Lakes has occurred since the mid-1900s (Christie and Goddard 2003), with annual costs of control in excess of US$15 million. Because of resource limitations and scale of sea lamprey infestation in the Great Lakes, it is important for trade-offs to be assessed at all levels of a control program, including how much resources are devoted to assessment efforts versus direct control (Hansen and Jones 2008) and control efforts designed to elicit short-versus long-term effects (Schleen et al 2003;Haeseker et al 2007). The research conducted by Haeseker et al (2007), as well as our own research, was intended to identify what combination of control policies would be most effective at providing long-term suppression of sea lampreys originating from the SMR.…”

“…1), has traditionally been recognized as a large producer of sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) in the Laurentian Great Lakes and a major contributor of parasitic-stage sea lampreys to Lake Huron. Since the mid-1990s, an integrated approach to controlling production of SMR sea lampreys has been followed (Schleen et al 2003;Siefkes et al 2013). The approach has included trapping of adult sea lampreys during spawning migrations, release of sterilized male sea lampreys onto spawning grounds, and, since 1999, application of granular Bayluscide (a selective larvicide that targets sea lamprey larvae; Dawson 2003) to selected SMR larval rearing habitats.…”

An assessment of the health and historical changes of the nearshore fish community of the St. Marys River

“…Hamilton Harbour and the Bay of Quinte are both Areas of Concern in Lake Ontario, while West Lake (Lake Ontario), Penetang Harbour (Lake Huron) and Hog Bay (Lake Huron) are reference areas. reducing larval sea lamprey abundance (Schleen et al, 2003), though the number of parasitic sea lampreys remains above target in Lake Huron. Additionally, while non-native salmonines continue to provide extensive angling opportunities in the river, and other invasive fishes have appeared in the community, there appears to be few impacts on native fishes in the St. Marys River from these invasives.…”

Environmental history of the St. Marys River

“…Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) were known to be in northern Lake Huron since the 1930s, but larvae were not recorded in the St. Marys River until 1962 . Efforts by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to control sea lamprey in Lake Huron started in the 1960s and eventually reduced the original population in the lake by nearly 85% (Schleen et al, 2003). By the 1980s however, populations of parasitic lamprey had begun to rebound in Lake Huron jeopardizing efforts to restore lake trout.…”