Funding for sea lamprey control is provided by both Canada and the United States and is administered by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (Commission). The Commission contracts a large part of the sea lamprey management and research program to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
We appreciate Canadas continued support of this vital program, said Bill Hartwig, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director. Control of sea lamprey is critical to the restoration of the Great Lakes ecosystem. We are proud to continue as a partner with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and others to protect the Great Lakes fishery.
Funding support comes at a critical time, as partners begin to address the challenge of sea lamprey control on the St. Marys River. This system currently produces more lamprey than all Great Lakes tributaries combined, at levels nearly as large as those before control measures were started 40 years ago. Lake trout and whitefish stocks were decimated by sea lamprey, each of which can destroy up to 40 pounds of fish during the 18 months of its adult life in the lakes.
With the increase in funds from Canada and funds provided by the State of Michigan to supplement the effort, effective control can begin on St. Marys River. Control on this system is expected to reduce lamprey populations in Lake Huron and northern Lake Michigan by 85 percent.
Sea lamprey control began when the United States and Canada signed the 1955 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries, which created the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. Since then, the Commission and its agents have carried out a highly successful sea lamprey control program that has reduced overall lamprey populations by 90 percent. Research has led to better formulations of lampricides and innovative techniques involving trapping and sterile male release programs. With control, agencies take measures to establish naturally-reproducing fish populations. Fewer lamprey means more quality fish and fishing for years to come.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
