The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week that an assessment crew will conduct work on the Leland River starting next week to detect the presence of sea lampreys.

The information that the Fish and Wildlife crew finds will be used to determine the need for sea lamprey control. Another crew will perform a similar assessment on the Bear River in Emmet County.

Fishery biologists and technicians conduct surveys for sea lamprey larvae in hundreds of Great Lakes streams each year. Most of the surveys are conducted by electrofishing, but in deeper waters crews use Bayluscide 3.2% Granular Sea Lamprey Larvicide, a lampricide that has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency. Surveys using Bayluscide are scheduled for several areas adjacent to the mouths of the Leland and Bear rivers between June 11 and 18, though the exact timing of the work will depend on weather conditions.

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission began chemical control of sea lampreys in 1958, and since that time Fish and Wildlife officials say the program has contributed to successful maintenance of the $4 billion Great Lakes sport and commercial fishing industries. The officials said the first step in the control of sea lampreys is to survey tributaries to the Great Lakes to determine the presence of lamprey larvae, which hatch from eggs laid by adult lamprey in gravel nests before drifting into silty bottom areas where they burrow and live for several years. Larvae also drift out of streams and settle in the offshore areas near stream mouths. If the larvae aren’t detected, it can allow the lamprey to transform into parasitic adults. Fish and Wildlife experts estimate that the average sea lamprey can destroy up to 40 pounds of fish during its parasitic phase.

Meanwhile, Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada are currently evaluating the release of sterile male sea lampreys as a control measure in the St. Marys River in the Sault Ste. Marie area. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission is also developing a strategy to boost the number of barriers on sea lamprey-producing streams, and is conducting research into barrier design, traps, attractants and biologic ail controls.

For more information about sea lampreys and controls, visit www.glfc.com.