Advances in Alternative Controls for Sea Lamprey in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control is essential to biodiversity and a sustainable fishery in the Laurentian Great Lakes and relies on selective pesticides to kill larval sea lampreys in streams and physical barriers to limit access to spawning habitat. Additional tools are desired to advance integrated sea lamprey control, however, approaches to advance the trapping and barrier programs are still in the proof-of-concept stage and have yet to be fully deployed in control. For example, sterile-male-release technique was implemented in the St. Marys River (outflow of Lake Superior) during 1991 - 2011. Sterile male release was discontinued because of uncertainty in its effect in reducing larval production given lampricide treatments were occurring in the St. Marys River during the same timeframe. Monitoring continues in the St. Marys River to determine the impact-sterile-male-release had on larval recruitment. Research is now aimed at guiding downstream migrating juvenile and upstream-migrating adult sea lamprey to traps as well as completely blocking upstream migrating adults using non-physical stimuli (i.e., light, sound, bubbles, pulsed-DC, chemical cues, etc.). Non-physical stimuli may improve trapping or deter sea lamprey without affecting water flow and can be seasonally operated to allow non-target fish passage.