Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the Lower Great Lakes

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Abstract
Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) are established in each of the several discrete areas in the St. Lawrence River system between Lake Huron and the Moses–Saunders Power Dam (160 km below Lake Ontario) except for the Niagara River between Niagara Falls and Lake Ontario. However, chemical lampricide treatments are being used to control these populations only in Lake Ontario. Experimental introductions of trout and salmon in Lake Ontario between 1968 and 1971 were not successful. Survival was limited and the number of sea lamprey attack marks on the fish that did mature was very high. After the first round of lampricide treatments of most sea lamprey producing tributaries in 1972, survival of fish improved and lamprey attacks declined. Studies are being completed to determine the desirability of including Oneida Lake in the treatment schedule to prevent recruitment of sea lampreys from this area to Lake Ontario and to improve the fish populations of Oneida Lake. Treatment of Lake Champlain also is being studied by management agencies concerned with its fisheries. Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie and connecting waters, the Finger Lakes, and the St. Lawrence River below Lake Ontario do not appear to have sea lampreys in the numbers necessary to cause unacceptable levels of predation on fish populations and are not being considered for inclusion in the Great Lakes Fishery Commission control program at this time.Key words: sea lamprey, predation, abundance, history, Erie, Ontario, Oneida, Finger Lakes, Champlain

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