Syracuse.com - Canadian fisheries staff applied lampricide recently in CNY streams

[HuntingNY-News]

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It happens every three years and it's part of an effort to control the numbers of sea lamprey in Lake Ontario.

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<p><br />A team of Canadian fishery biologists and technicians from Fisheries and Oceans Canada were in Central New York this spring and late last month applying lampricide in local streams to kill sea lamprey larvae in the waterways.</p>

<p>Brian Stephens, who led the effort, said local streams where the sea lamprey-killing chemicals were applied included Orwell and Trout brook (two tributaries to the Salmon River); Grindstone, South Sandy and Lindsey creeks - and most recently, Fish Creek, a stream on the east side of Oneida Lake.</p>

<div id="asset-13028984" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><span class="adv-photo-large"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/13028984-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="051208LAMP1mjg.JPG" /><span class="photo-data"><span class="caption">Sea lamprey, if left unchecked, can devastate a fishery.</span><span class="byline">Mike Greenlar | [email protected]</span></span></span> </div>

<p>The Fish Creek treatment, which took place June 21-23, took two visits, Stephens said. The stream was initially too high to effectively apply the chemicals when the team first visited in May.</p>

<p>The Canadians were handling the job as a result of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, an agency with representatives from both countries dedicated to keeping sea lampreys under control in the Great Lakes. If left unchecked, this parasitic creature, which attaches itself to host fish and sucks the internal fluids out, can have a devastating effect on a waterway's fishery.</p>

<div id="asset-13028986" class="entry_widget_large entry_widget_right"><span class="adv-photo-large"><img src="/static/common/img/blank.gif" class="lazy" data-original="http://media.syracuse.com/outdoors/photo/13028986-large.jpg" class="adv-photo" alt="051208LAMP5mjg.JPG" /><span class="photo-data"><span class="caption">Sea lamprey use their circular, teeth-filled mouth to attach themselves to a fish's side and suck its bodily fluids out.</span><span class="byline">Mike Greenlar | [email protected]</span></span></span> </div>

<p>Responsibility for sea lamprey control - which along with applying lampricide,includes maintaining barriers and traps to catch and remove spawning lamprey on the lakes' tributaries - is divided up between the two countries by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The Canadians oversee Lake Ontario's tributaries, applying lampricide every three years on both sides of the lake, including 19 waterways on the U.S. side.</p>

<p>Stephens said each time his staff applies the lamprey- killing chemicals in a waterway, the stream's flow and water chemistry is tested nearly every hour to ensure a concentration of "1 ½ times the minimal lethal amount" of lampricide. In addition, the staff checks out "backwater areas" and sprays the chemicals to make sure the job is completely done.</p>

<p>He said great care is taken not to affect or kill other fish or stream life in the process. Back in 2008, though, lampricide treatment by the Canadians on Little Sandy Creek coincided with the spawning of walleye in that waterway, resulting in a fish kill. Stephens said in previous years, walleye hadn't used the stream to spawn and their presence that year was unexpected.</p>

<p>"We've since done the treatments later to avoid the walleye spawning run. We've been there twice since with no problems," he said.</p>

<p>Stephens said the Fish Creek job was the most labor- intensive of the local streams treated. He said the treatment team consisted of 19 members, with efforts being concentrated around and downstream from the Camden area.</p>

<p>What may surprise many is that fact that lamprey leave Lake Ontario, make their way through the river system, get into and cross Oneida Lake -- and successfully make their way each year up Fish Creek to spawn.</p>

<p>"Sea lampreys have been known to travel as much as 60 miles or more to spawn. They're not afraid to swim," Stephens said.</p>

<p>For more on the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission and its lamprey control efforts, see the commission's website at<a href="http://glfc.org/sealamp"> glfc.org/sealamp</a>.<br /></p>

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