Wildlife
Lamprey cuts threaten charter boat captains
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A $3 million federal cut from sea lamprey control in 2012 could cause many of Michigan’s charter boat captains to go out of business.
With video of lamprey sterilization.
Wildlife
New insight on old pesticide spells trouble for the Great Lakes’ invasive sea lamprey
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By Jeff Gillies
Oct. 20, 2009
While Great Lakes officials beat back the voracious Asian carp at the gates of Lake Michigan, they still wrangle with another nasty fish that snuck in at least 90 years ago. Sea lampreys, eel-like parasitic fish native to the Atlantic Ocean, use a mouthful of teeth and a bony tongue to latch onto and scrape through fish flesh. Scientists debate whether the lamprey is native to Lake Ontario, where it was discovered in 1835. But it invaded Lake Erie by 1921 and the rest of the Great Lakes by 1946.
Wildlife
Pheromones in river traps attract sea lampreys
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Scientists have found another promising weapon in the battle against sea lampreys, strong evidence that they may win the war against one of the Great Lakes’ most infamous invaders.
Researchers at Michigan State University have begun field tests on a chemical compound that tricks the lampreys and lures them into traps.