Where is the sea lamprey native to

In the s sea lamprey had colonized each of the Upper Great Lakes. Sea lampreys are invasive and outcompete native Great Lakes fish. A single sea lamprey kills 40 or more pounds of fish in its life as a parasite. Historically, Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior were the source of large, high quality cold water fish for markets of the Midwest and east coast.

Lake trout alone accounted for an average annual commercial catch of tons in the s. The season closed in with the lake trout population collapse brought on by the invasion of sea lampreys. Acting as an agent through the Great Lakes Fishery Commission , we implemented a massive chemical control effort in the 's and by the early 's had reduced the abundance of sea lampreys by 90 percent.

This effort paved the way for recovery of self-sustaining populations of native lake trout in portions of the Upper Great Lakes. While total elimination of sea lamprey populations from the Great Lakes in unlikely, continued lampricide treatments along with new technologies and techniques such as mechanical and electrical barriers are leading to increasingly healthier fish populations and an economic powerhouse fueled by the resulting recreational fishery.

Sea lamprey control will continue and become more important as lake trout restoration activities expand in the Upper Great Lakes. Volunteer opportunities are available in Michigan through our Marquette and Ludington Biological Stations. The Sea Lamprey is a primitive, eel-like fish native to the northern Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic, western Mediterranean, and Adriatic seas. Sea Lampreys invaded the Great Lakes in the early 20th century through the creation of the Welland shipping canal, which gave the Sea Lampreys safe passage passed Niagara Falls.

In their native range, lampreys live part of their lives in salt water, but they have adapted to living entirely in freshwater in the Great Lakes.

As adults, they spawn in rivers and streams. The eggs hatch into larvae that live on organic matter in stream bottoms until they transform into parasites that migrate downstream to lakes. The adult lampreys spend 12 to 20 months feeding on the blood of other lake-dwelling fish, until they are ready to travel upstream to spawn. The complete life cycle usually lasts five to nine years. Today, Sea Lampreys are also found in each of the Great Lakes.

Since then, the commission has led a Sea Lamprey program to assess and control the species using measures that target different stages of its life cycle. These include chemicals that selectively kill lamprey larvae as well as barriers and traps that prevent adult lampreys from moving upstream to spawn.

Although, it is likely impossible to eliminate the Sea Lamprey from the Great Lakes, ongoing efforts to control the species have reduced populations by up to 90 percent, according to the GLFC. One lamprey kills about 40 pounds of fish every year. Lawrence Seaway. Within a decade, they had gained access to all five Great Lakes, where they quickly set to work predating on the lakes' commercially important fishes, including trout, whitefish, perch, and sturgeon. Within a century, the trout fishery had collapsed, largely due to the lamprey's unchecked proliferation.

Today, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission coordinates control of sea lampreys in the lakes, which is conducted by the U. Field biologists set up barriers and traps in the streams that feed the lakes to prevent the lamprey's upstream movements, and apply special chemicals, called lampricides, that target lamprey larvae but are harmless to other aquatic creatures.

New techniques to control sea lampreys are always under development.