more lamprey info

[rolmops]

LAMPREYS:
- There are 4 native Lamprey's. Sea Lamprey is invasive and much larger
- Lampreys have 100,000 eggs of which 10% are viable. They die after spawning.
- Males make the nest and females are attracted to males by scent.
- They do not necessarily return to their natal streams to spawn.
- They also attack Perch, Walleye, Bass and Pike.
- 6 out of 7 attacked fish die. If not directly from wound, then from infection.
TREATMENT:
- Treatment is at nesting sites, which are located by electroshocking.
- pH, Alkalinity, temp and O2 are measured first. If conditions not met then treatment is deferred.
- TFM liquid used for typical streams. Bayluscide crystal used on rivers. TFM blocks used on real small creeks.
- Liquid treatment requires constant monitoring and is applied over a 12 hour period.
- Physical barriers block upstream migration. Lampreys can't jump over 18".
- Traps are for migrating adults but are the least effective control.
- Lake Ontario population spiked in 2023 as traps caught "thousands" of Lampreys. GLFC playing "catch up" since.
FUTURE TREATMENTS:
- Sterilization has had very limited testing. Only for males.
- Pheromones (scents)
1. Attractants: To improve trap capture.
2. Repellants: To prevent migration.
3. Antagonist: To prevent females from finding nests
4. Predator: To scare them away. Basically the smell of dead Lamprey.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
- Lampreys do not return to natal streams like salmon.
- Nontarget specie affected by TFM are Mud Puppy (salamander) and small Lk Sturgeon.
- Lake Sturgeon were removed from treatment streams and held in ponds until TFM treatments finished.
- Lab testing of TFM used a small Bluegill and small trout. (video shows trout laying on its side)
- Whether Lampreys can build up resistance to treatment is being studied via DNA analysis. No results observed yet.
- Of their $19.6 million budget, $13 million went to Lamprey control. (that year)
- Sterilization limited to small ponds due to potential influx of unsterile males migrating in larger lakes.
- TFM not effective below 6C (42.8F)
- Warming water will "probably" cause lamprey to spawn earlier in season.
- Walleye may opportunistically eat them but natural predator unknown.
- Lamprey specie over 300 million years old and were most abundant on west shore of Europe but now endangered there.
- Lamprey considered a delicacy in UK. "Lamprey Pie" is basically a "stew."

 

[aspeck]

Very interesting ...

- Lamprey specie over 300 million years old and were most abundant on west shore of Europe but now endangered there.

My question would be, "Why?" What caused them to go from an abundance to endangered? And then, how can that be replicated? Do we just need good Lamprey recipes? Or did something else find them delectable? Or ...

 

[cyclops222]

In England. The river running thru London. Is so constantly filled with all the drugs used by Londoners. IS causing the animals to not be able to sexually reproduce. From London to the ocean.
Humans...The perfect GREEN animal.

 

[rolmops]

Funny, but it is not so much the River Thames. It is those industrious Dutch in their efforts to turn the swamps and lakes in the Rhine and Meuse river delta into arable land and the huge dams they built in the southern parts of the country. Add to that the incredible pollution that used to come out of Germany and France by way of those rivers and on top of all of that, the over fishing in the North Sea and the Atlantic around Ireland and Britain. The deck is definitely stacked against the sea lamprey.
I don't think that we would want to solve the lamprey problem using those methods.

 

[rolmops]

In England. The river running thru London. Is so constantly filled with all the drugs used by Londoners. IS causing the animals to not be able to sexually reproduce. From London to the ocean.
Humans...The perfect GREEN animal.

Is that because of the contraceptives used by the London ladies ?

 

[cyclops222]

Drug addicts in Parliament cause the highest levels at their discharge pipe into the river. Look it up. History Channel special.
World Trade Centers Towers, NYC, USA had 2 huge raw sewage pipes right into the river. We are not so perfect either.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

Drug addicts in Parliament cause the highest levels at their discharge pipe into the river. Look it up. History Channel special.
World Trade Centers Towers, NYC, USA had 2 huge raw sewage pipes right into the river. We are not so perfect either.

Does not get greener that Prince Rupert, but their sewage is discharged directly into the ocean.

 

[cyclops222]

RAW human sewage is OK. It breaks down into plant food.
Problem is ANY OTHER stuff flushed with it. IS the problem.