Sea Lamprey Control contributes to decreased sea lamprey population

ASHLAND, Wis. (Northern News Now) - An organization is doing its part to decrease the population of sea lamprey, an invasive species that once jeopardized the Great Lakes fishing economy.

Since these creatures invaded the Great Lakes, they have had a negative impact on the native fish population. Each lamprey is capable of killing around 40 lbs. of fish.

The Sea Lamprey Control Program is doing everything it can to bring down the population of these underwater vampires and preserve the other creatures living in the Great Lakes.

On Sunday, Sea Lamprey Control and the Great Lakes Fishing Commission applied lampricide to the White River in Wisconsin.

Lampricide is a chemical that kills the larva in streams before they are old enough to migrate to bigger bodies of water and the most effective method of reducing the sea lamprey population.

Shawn Nowicki is a part of the Sea Lamprey Control and wants to ensure this is a safe process for not only the other aquatic life but also anything that interacts with the water.

"The Health Canada Organization have deemed that the lampricides that are applied and the concentration in which we apply them have no unreasonable effects on any organism," said Nowicki. "Human or otherwise."

Zak Allan works with the Great Lakes Fishing Commission and added that lampricides are fairly green in comparison to other chemicals.

He also said lamprey control is a big job and that it takes everyone's help to create an impact.

"Community support, especially with land owners who grant the agents access to their land to apply the lampricides or do larval assessment surveys," said Allan. "It's very, very important we have the support of the community and partner organizations as well."

Both Allan and Nowicki said the biggest thing people can personally do for the lamprey population is to dispatch any lamprey they might find while exploring the Great Lakes.