Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior: History of Invasion and Control, 1936–78

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 1780-1801 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. R. Smith ◽  
J. J. Tibbles
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Control Program ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Fish Stocks

Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) entered the upper three Great Lakes in the late 1930s and began making sharp inroads into the fish stocks by the mid-1940s in lakes Huron and Michigan and the mid-1950s in Lake Superior. The first serious attempts to control the parasite began in 1950 with the installation of mechanical barriers along the United States shore of Lake Huron to block spawning runs. Electrical barriers, developed in 1952, were installed in 132 tributaries of the Great Lakes by 1960, but control measures did not become effective until after 1958, when a selective toxicant — the lampricide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) — was used to destroy larval lampreys in streams. In the 21 years, 1958–78, 1223 treatments of tributaries of the upper three lakes with TFM were completed in 334 streams — 91 in Canada and 243 in the United States. Evidence of the success of the control program was soon obvious: first by reduced sea lamprey spawning runs as measured by the numbers of adults taken at electrical barriers; second by significant decreases in the incidence of sea lamprey wounds on lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush); and finally by the excellent responses of major fish stocks to sea lamprey control. All three of the upper lakes have large numbers of lake trout, coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), chinook salmon (O. tshawytscha), and other salmonids available to the sport fishery and in some areas to the commercial fishing industry. Although the sea lamprey control program has been successful, it is important that emphasis be placed on developing new and innovative methods to reduce the dependence on lampricides. It is expected that a fully integrated program will eventually comprise several methods, including permanent barrier dams on selected streams and the use of sterilants, attractants, repellents, and biological controls, as well as chemical lampricides.Key words: sea lamprey, distribution, abundance, history, predation, integrated controls, Huron, Michigan, Superior

Species Succession and Fishery Exploitation in the Great Lakes

1968 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 667-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanford H. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Brook Trout ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Species Interaction ◽  
Selective Predation ◽  
Fish Stocks

The species composition of fish in the Great Lakes has undergone continual change since the earliest records. Some changes were caused by enrichment of the environment, but others primarily by an intensive and selective fishery for certain species. Major changes related to the fishery were less frequent before the late 1930's than in recent years and involved few species. Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) were overexploited knowingly during the late 1800's because they interfered with fishing for preferred species; sturgeon were greatly reduced in all lakes by the early 1900's. Heavy exploitation accompanied sharp declines of lake herring (Leucichthys artedi) in Lake Erie during the 1920's and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in Lake Huron during the 1930's. A rapid succession of fish species in Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior that started about 1940 has been caused by selective predation by the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) on native predatory species, and the resultant shifting emphasis of the fishery and species interaction as various species declined. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) and burbot (Lota lota), the deep-water predators, were depleted first; this favored their prey, the chubs (Leucichthys spp.). The seven species of chubs were influenced differently according to differences in size. Fishing emphasis and predation by sea lampreys were selective for the largest species of chubs as lake trout and burbot declined. A single slow-growing chub, the bloater, was favored and increased, but as the large chubs declined the bloater was exploited by a new trawl fishery. The growth rate and size of the bloater increased, making it more vulnerable to conventional gillnet fishery and lamprey predation. This situation in Lakes Michigan and Huron favored the small alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) which had recently become established in the upper Great Lakes, and the alewife increased rapidly and dominated the fish stocks of the lakes. The successive collapses of various stocks after periods of stable production may give some indication of their sustainable yield. The sea lamprey is being brought under control in Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron; lake trout are being established; and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), coho salmon (O. kisutch), kokanee salmon (O. nerka), and the splake, a hybrid of lake trout and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), are being introduced to reestablish a new species balance. Fish stocks are in a state of extreme instability in these lakes. Careful control of stocking programs and fisheries, and coordination of management among the various states of the United States and the province of Canada (Ontario) which manage the fish stocks, will be required to restore and maintain a useful fishery balance.

Changes in Biological Characteristics of the Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) as Related to Lamprey Abundance, Prey Abundance, and Sea Lamprey Control

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 1861-1871 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Heinrich ◽  
Jerry G. Weise ◽  
Bernard R. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Chemical Control ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Biological Characteristics ◽  
Prey Abundance ◽  
Sea Lampreys

Biological characteristics of adult sea lampreys, Petromyzon marinus, in the Great Lakes changed in response to lamprey and prey abundance and the chemical control program. Sea lampreys collected as early as 1947, through 1978, from southern Lake Superior, northwestern Lake Michigan, the Ocqueoc River and Canadian shore of Lake Huron, and the Humber River of Lake Ontario were analyzed. Generally, abundance of sea lampreys peaked in each lake before the chemical control program began. The annual mean lengths and weights were relatively low when lampreys were abundant and increased as the numbers were reduced by the control efforts. As an indication of the change in sea lamprey weight per unit change in length, annual log10 weight on log10 length equations were solved at the arbitrary length of 410 mm. The values were plotted against years for each lake and interpreted with respect to chemical treatment periods. All slopes were negative before the control period and positive thereafter. Sea lamprey lengths and weights were low when fish stocks in the Great Lakes were near depletion. As salmonids again became abundant through stocking, lampreys grew larger. In Lake Superior, where detailed records on lake trout abundance have been available since 1959, a significant relation exists between the changes in the sea lamprey estimated weight values at 410 mm and in lake trout abundance (P < 0.01). Male sea lampreys were the dominant sex when populations of the parasite were high. A shift to a preponderance of females occurred as lamprey abundance declined.Key words: Petromyzon marinus, Salvelinus namaycush, abundance, sex ratio, weight–length relationship, chemical control

Classification of Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) Attack Marks on Great Lakes Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush)

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 1989-2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Everett Louis King Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Attachment Site ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Salvelinus Namaycush ◽  
Oral Disc ◽  
Field Assessment ◽  
Sea Lampreys

Criteria for the classification of marks inflicted by sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) into nine categories were developed from laboratory studies in an attempt to refine the classification system used in field assessment work. These criteria were based on characteristics of the attachment site that could be identified under field conditions by unaided visual means and by touching the attachment site. Healing of these marks was somewhat variable and was influenced by the size of lamprey, duration of attachment, severity of the wound at lamprey detachment, season and water temperature, and by other less obvious factors. Even under laboratory conditions staging of some wounds was difficult, especially at low water temperatures. If these criteria are to be used effectively and with precision in the field, close examination of individual fish may be required. If the feeding and density of specific year-classes of sea lampreys are to be accurately assessed on an annual basis, close attention to the wound size (as it reflects the size of the lamprey's oral disc) and character of wounds on fish will be required as well as consideration of the season of the year in which they are observed.Key words: sea lamprey, attack marks, lake trout, Great Lakes

On Evaluating Measures to Rehabilitate Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) of Lake Superior

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 2057-2062 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. H. Lawrie ◽  
W. MacCallum
Keyword(s):  
Lake Trout ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Salvelinus Namaycush ◽  
Planting Density ◽  
Hatchery Fish ◽  
Natural Recruitment

The Lake Superior lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) population is being rebuilt following its collapse in the early 1950s. Estimates are presented of the contributions to this recovery provided directly by the artificial recruitment of hatchery fish, a demonstrable amelioration in mortality rates and a resurgence, lately, of natural recruitment. Of the increased lake trout abundance, 55% on the average was owing to trebling the planting density, 40% to improved survival, and 5% to increasing recruitment of native lake trout. The precise contribution of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control program could not be defined for lack of sufficient early data.Key words: lake trout, sea lamprey, rehabilitation, natural recruitment, hatchery stocking

A deathly odor suggests a new sustainable tool for controlling a costly invasive species

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1157-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Michael Wagner ◽  
Eric M. Stroud ◽  
Trevor D. Meckley
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Behavioral Response ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Soxhlet Extraction ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Laurentian Great Lakes ◽  
Sea Lampreys

Here we confirm a long-standing anecdotal observation; the sea lamprey ( Petromyzon marinus ) actively avoids the odor emitted by decaying conspecifics. We extracted the semiochemical mixture produced by the putrefying carcasses of sea lampreys via Soxhlet extraction in ethanol and exposed groups of 10 migratory-phase lampreys to either the putrefaction extract (N = 8) or an ethanol control (N = 8) in a laboratory raceway. Sea lampreys rapidly avoided the putrefaction odor while exhibiting no response to the ethanol control. This response was elicited with a diluted mixture (1:373 000) and was maintained for 40 min (the duration of exposure), after which the lampreys quickly returned to their nominal distribution. The ease with which this odor is obtained, and the rapid and consistent behavioral response, suggests the substance will prove useful as a repellent in the sea lamprey control program carried out in the Laurentian Great Lakes.

Larkin's Predation Model of Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) Extinction with Harvesting and Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) Predation: A Qualitative Analysis

1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 942-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Salvelinus Namaycush ◽  
Volterra Model ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Simple Models

After invasion of the Great Lakes by the parasitic marine sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) populations crashed, but there remains some uncertainty concerning the relative importance of sea lamprey predation and harvesting in destruction of the fisheries. Some investigators believe overharvest was important; others think that the sea lamprey alone was enough. Simple models of predation assume monophagous predators and do not predict extinction of prey, but Larkin's modification of the Lotka–Volterra model results in extinction under some circumstances. The dynamics of sea lamprey predation on lake trout were investigated using Larkin's model, and crude estimates of the model parameters indicate that extinction is a likely outcome with or without a fishery.

New estimates of lethality of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) attacks on lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush): implications for fisheries management

2008 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles P Madenjian ◽  
Brian D Chipman ◽  
J Ellen Marsden
Keyword(s):  
Fisheries Management ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Salvelinus Namaycush ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Lake Champlain ◽  
And Control

Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control in North America costs millions of dollars each year, and control measures are guided by assessment of lamprey-induced damage to fisheries. The favored prey of sea lamprey in freshwater ecosystems has been lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush). A key parameter in assessing sea lamprey damage, as well as managing lake trout fisheries, is the probability of an adult lake trout surviving a lamprey attack. The conventional value for this parameter has been 0.55, based on laboratory experiments. In contrast, based on catch curve analysis, mark–recapture techniques, and observed wounding rates, we estimated that adult lake trout in Lake Champlain have a 0.74 probability of surviving a lamprey attack. Although sea lamprey growth in Lake Champlain was lower than that observed in Lake Huron, application of an individual-based model to both lakes indicated that the probability of surviving an attack in Lake Champlain was only 1.1 times higher than that in Lake Huron. Thus, we estimated that lake trout survive a lamprey attack in Lake Huron with a probability of 0.66. Therefore, our results suggested that lethality of a sea lamprey attack on lake trout has been overestimated in previous model applications used in fisheries management.

Assessment of Lamprey and Fish Stocks in the Great Lakes in Relation to Control of the Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus): Report from the SLIS Assessment Measurements Task Force

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 2197-2201 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. S. Maitland
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Stock Assessment ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Nontarget Organisms ◽  
Fish Stocks ◽  
Important Prey ◽  
The Impact

Available and potential methodology for assessing lamprey and prey fish populations is related to existing and future requirements of the sea lamprey control program of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC). For lamprey, we recommend that the classification of Great Lakes tributaries according to their potential for larval production and the quality of lamprey attack data should be improved and standardized; standardized collections of spawning run adults should be continued; research should be encouraged on attractants and repellents, a male sterilization program, and the biology of parasitic phase animals. For fish, we recommend that more emphasis be given to the precision and standardization of estimates to allow better comparison between places and years, and the assessment of fish stocks other than major prey species; the GLFC support an evaluation program of an important prey species; and that other assessment methods (e.g. acoustic; counts of entrained fish) be explored. Because lamprey control is a long-term process that may span periods of environmental change, monitoring of physical, chemical, and biotic factors should be encouraged. Research on the impact of lampricides on nontarget organisms should be expanded. We also discuss and offer suggestions on the future of sea lamprey control.Key words: stock assessment, fishery surveys, methodology, populations control, proposed research

scholarly journals The future of barriers and trapping methods in the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control program in the Laurentian Great Lakes

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Miehls ◽  
Paul Sullivan ◽  
Michael Twohey ◽  
Jessica Barber ◽  
Rodney McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Program Effectiveness ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Current Control ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Trapping Methods ◽  
Adult Lamprey

AbstractA major duty of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC), created in 1955, was the development a program of eradication or management of sea lamprey populations in the Great Lakes for the protection of the Great Lakes fishery. Beginning in the 1980s the GLFC shifted sea lamprey control to an integrated pest management model seeking to deploy control measures which target multiple life stages. Currently control efforts focus on limiting the area of infestation using barriers to migratory adults and eradication of larvae from streams using selective pesticides. Feedback on program effectiveness is obtained by trapping migratory adult lamprey at a series of index sites around the basin. The GLFC continues to support multiple research initiatives to develop additional control, improve current control measures, and further advance the sea lamprey control program. During the past six decades sea lamprey control in the Great Lakes has evolved as the research program has identified technological advances. Here we summarize the current state and recent advancements for two of the sea lamprey control program’s core elements, barriers and traps, highlight challenges to be addressed to continue the advancement of these program elements, and provide a series of research questions to spur interest within the research community. Further, because considerable information about these program elements is scattered among grey literature and technical reports, we summarize the history of barriers and traps in sea lamprey control in the included appendices to provide relevant program background to anyone interested in pursuing these research topics.

Sterility Method of Pest Control and Its Potential Role in an Integrated Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) Control Program

1980 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 2108-2117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee H. Hanson ◽  
Patrick J. Manion
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Pest Control ◽  
Integrated Control ◽  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Control Fish ◽  
Sea Lampreys ◽  
Normal Males

The sterility method of pest control could be an effective tool in the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control program in the Great Lakes. Some of the requirements for its successful application have been met. A field study demonstrated that the release of male sea lampreys, sterilized by the injection of 100 mg/kg of P,P-bis(1-aziridinyl)-N-methylphosphinothioic amide (bisazir), will reduce the number of viable larvae produced. The actual reduction in reproductive success that occurred was directly related to the ratio of sterile to normal males in the population. The technique can be used in many ways in an integrated control program and has considerable potential for the more effective control of the sea lamprey. Eradication is a distinct possibility.Key words: sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus; pest control, fish control, sterile-male technique, sterilization, chemosterilants, bisazir, Great Lakes

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