Changes in native lamprey populations in the Great Lakes since the onset of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control

Abstract

The control of invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes basin has been highly successful, but has deleteriously affected native lamprey species. American brook, northern brook, silver and chestnut lampreys are all susceptible to lampricide treatments. Incidental catch from surveys that targeted sea lamprey were used to determine changes in distributions and catch rates of these native species within the Great Lakes basin since the onset of the sea lamprey control program. Over 2.4 million native lampreys were collected during sea lamprey control operations between 1947 and 2018. Native lampreys were no longer captured from many treated and untreated streams. Silver lamprey and northern brook lamprey distributions were reduced most substantially. These species were no longer found in about three quarters of the number of streams in which they were historically present. The number of streams inhabited by chestnut lamprey has diminished by half. American brook lamprey were still present in the majority of streams previously occupied. Catch rates declined in northern brook lamprey and Ichthyomyzon larvae in some Great Lakes basins, but changes in collection gear and methods made comparisons difficult. Trap and weir data show drastic declines in silver lamprey and chestnut lamprey. Streams that have not been treated with lampricide have suffered similar or greater declines in both the number of streams occupied and catch rates for all four species when compared to untreated streams. Therefore reductions in native lamprey populations were likely due to a number of environmental changes, and not exclusively from lampricide treatments.