lampreys - WKTV Journal

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel will apply lampricides to the Rogue River and Crockry Creek in Kent and Ottawa counties. (Courtesy, Great Lakes Fishery Commission)

June 6–14, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel will apply lampricides to the Rogue River and Crockery Creek in Kent and Ottawa Counties to kill sea lamprey larvae burrowed in the stream bottom. The applications will be conducted in accordance with State of Michigan permits. Applications will be complete in about five days. Application dates are tentative and may change based upon local weather or stream conditions near the time of treatment.

Sea lamprey larvae live in certain Great Lakes tributaries and transform to parasitic adults that migrate to the Great Lakes and kill fish. Failure to kill the larvae in streams would result in significant damage to the Great Lakes fishery. Infested tributaries must be treated every three to five years with lampricides to control sea lamprey populations.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency have reviewed human health and environmental safety data for lampricides, and in 2003 concluded that the lampricides (Lampricid and Bayluscide) pose no unreasonable risk to the general population and the environment when applied at concentrations necessary to control larval sea lampreys. However, as with any pesticide, the public is advised to use discretion and minimize unnecessary exposure.Lampricides are selectively toxic to sea lampreys, but a few fish, insect, and broadleaf plants are sensitive. Persons confining bait fish or other organisms in stream water are advised to use an alternate water source because lampricides may cause mortality among aquatic organisms stressed by crowding and handling. Agricultural irrigation must be suspended for 24 hours, during and following treatment.

Extensive preparations are required for a safe and effective stream treatment. Prior to treatment, personnel collect data on stream water chemistry and discharge.In addition, they may conduct on-site toxicity tests with lampricides and stream flow studies with dyes that cause stream water to appear red or green.

Lampricides are carefully metered into the stream for approximately 12 hours, and continually analyzed at predetermined sites to assure that proper concentrations are maintained as the lampricides are carried downstream.Applicators are trained and are certified by (state/provincial) regulatory agencies for aquatic applications of pesticides.

The program is contracted through the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The Commission initiated chemical control of sea lampreys in 1958. Since that time the highly successful program has contributed significantly to the maintenance of the $7 billion Great Lakes sport and commercial fisheries.

The Commission is committed to delivering a sea lamprey control program that practices good environmental stewardship. To support the continued safe use of lampricides the Commission recently conducted a series of studies at a total cost of $6 million to assess the effects of the lampricides on human health and the environment. In addition to these studies the Commission has implemented a research program to develop alternative control techniques. The Commission also is developing a strategy to increase the number of barriers on lamprey-producing streams, and is conducting research into barrier design, traps, attractants, and biological controls.

For additional information in the U.S. call 1-800-472-9212 and in Canada call 1-800-553-9091. TTY users may reach the Marquette or Ludington Biological Stations through the Michigan State Relay Service at 1-800-649-3777.

By Douglas Tamru
Capital News Service

An odd tradition – sea lamprey pie – linking the Great Lakes to Great Britain’s Royals and is expected to continue with the crowning of King Charles III.

Lampreys are considered an undesirable invasive species in the Great Lakes. (By Fernando Losada Rodríguez – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Lampreys are considered an undesirable invasive species in the Great Lakes. They devastate native fish by latching onto them with a sucker-like mouth filled with sharp teeth.

Great Lakes state, provincial and federal governments spend millions of dollars to control them.

But baking them into a pie is a longtime tradition in the United Kingdom.

A popular delicacy

Queen Elizabeth II, who died Sept. 8 after reigning 70 years, was served the eel-like sea lamprey in 2002 to celebrate her Golden Jubilee, or 50th anniversary of being on the throne.

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission made another shipment of the fish taken from the Great Lakes 10 years later in 2012 for the queen’s 60th anniversary, and once again in 2016 for her 90th birthday.

“We capture them and send them over to Gloucester, England, so that they can continue their long tradition,” said Marc Gaden, the deputy executive secretary of the fishery commission, a binational organization founded in 1954 to fight the parasite.

“With the coronation of King Charles III coming up, I can only assume I’m going to be sending a few more over there.”

Sea lamprey are protected in the U.K. because streams there are heavily dammed, and they cannot spawn as much as they do in the Great Lakes, Gaden said.

The lamprey pie is a tradition in the U.K., spanning hundreds of years. Serving it was discontinued except for coronations in 1836, due to its high cost, according to “What’s Cooking America,” a website that documents food history.

The lamprey is baked while coated in syrup, along with some wine and spices. It is then spooned out and served on sliced white bread.

In America, mixed reviews

In 1996, Wisconsin Sea Grant organized a sea lamprey taste test in hopes of spurring a commercial market for the fish instead of simply landfilling those that they trapped.

Taste ratings were high, but the plan fell apart when contaminant tests showed that the Great Lakes lamprey contained mercury levels that were too high to meet European Union standards.

How does it taste?

“Surprisingly good,” Bob Bennet, the owner, and chef of a Duluth restaurant that hosted the event said at the time. “Try selling it without telling people what they are eating. It would be better.”

But don’t ask Gaden.

“I can’t say I’ve tried the lamprey pie,” he said.