Integrate Non-Physical Cues to Remove Invasive Sea Lamprey and Pass Valued Species in Tributaries to the Great Lakes

A principal initiative of resource managers is to reconnect migratory fishes to upper watersheds through removal of the lowermost dams in Great Lakes tributaries.  This initiative is justified because tributaries provide critical spawning and nursery habitats for over one-third of Great Lakes fishes, and that loss of tributary habitat has been attributed to significant declines in native fish populations.  However, because lowermost dam removal opens stream habitat to aquatic invasive species, this initiative is in direct conflict with objectives to control invasive sea lampreys as they spawn in the same tributaries. If an approach existed to selectively pass desirable species while blocking invasive species, these two principal initiatives could be advanced simultaneously.  We conceptualize that selective passage of valued species and selective removal of sea lampreys may be achieved by integrating multiple stimuli that induce species-specific responses.  Here we will discuss our conceptual model in the context of integrating a novel sea lamprey trap with an electrical guide, a sea lamprey repellent, and a sea lamprey pheromone.  Each of these technologies has been individually validated in field trials, but has not yet been integrated into a selective fish passage system.