The sea lamprey invaded the Great Lakes more than a hundred years ago, and no one’s been able to get rid of it. But Rebecca Williams reports it’s the only invader in the Lakes that managers have been able to control. Experts say it can only be kept in check if Congress continues to provide funding each year:
Transcript
The sea lamprey invaded the Great Lakes more than a hundred years ago, and no one’s been able to get rid of it. But Rebecca Williams reports it’s the only invader in the Lakes that managers have been able to control. Experts say it can only be kept in check if Congress continues to provide funding each year:
The sea lamprey got into the Great Lakes through a manmade canal. The parasite attaches itself to fish and sucks out the blood and body fluids.
By the 1950’s, sea lampreys knocked out the big predator fish in the Lakes.
A few years later, biologists discovered a pesticide that kills lampreys. That pesticide is the major tool managers still use today to keep lamprey numbers down.
Marc Gaden is with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The commission’s in charge of controlling the lampreys. He says in order to have healthy fish populations, lampreys have to be kept in check.
“It’s like a coiled spring, as long as you have your thumb on it, everything’s fine but the moment you take it away it’ll just spring out of control, bounce back right to where it was before.”
The Bush Administration’s proposed budget cut some of the funding for the lamprey program. But the fishery commission is hopeful Congress will restore the funding.
For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.