Post by nhfishin4fun on Aug 3, 2017 13:06:18 GMT -5
The following request for feedback on sea lamprey wounding on Champlain was posted on another site and requested that we post it here as well by Brad Young, the Sea Lamprey control program manager for US FWS. I would encourage anyone with experience with sea lamprey wounding on their catch to provide feedback in support of this program. He also provided a graph of wounding results collected since the program began for comparison with your own personal experiences. The graph can be found on the web page linked below along with other program information:
www.fws.gov/lcfwro/sealamprey/index.html
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Folks, I wanted to share some information with you and also request your input. I worked in Plattsburgh as a weigh station captain for the LCI in June and heard mostly good news from anglers about the lamprey being lower than in the past and overall positive thoughts about the direction of lamprey control. I’ve heard overall positive comments about lamprey numbers remaining low in the Inland Sea and the upper Main Lake. However, I am hearing reports here and there of people saying that the lamprey situation is not looking so good from about the Charlotte-Essex Ferry, southward.
We trapped a 25-year, all-time low number of spawning adults this spring (there aren’t as many coming back to spawn). Summer larval assessments in rivers in just the past weeks have found 25-year, all time-time lows in several of our former biggest producing rivers. Wounding rates on Atlantic salmon and lake trout remain at all-time lows. It concerns me to hear reports that people are seeing “lots of lamprey” in certain places. At the risk of receiving more than I want to hear, I’d like to ask folks for their honest and measured thoughts on the status of sea lamprey in Lake Champlain, by answering these 2 simple questions. 1) Is your experience with lamprey numbers consistent with the data on the graph? 2) In which region of the lake have you experienced the condition you are reporting?
You can email me directly at Bradley_Young@FWS.GOV if you would like to share more details. If we can learn more about trends and especially anomalies, we can look into phenomena that might explain what is happening and why. From that angle, your thoughtful responses are welcomed as we continue to look at new and better ways to be more effective in controlling sea lamprey.
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Thanks for your interest,
Brad
Bradley A. Young, Ph.D.
Sea Lamprey Control, Program Manager
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office
11 Lincoln St.
Essex Junction, VT 05452
OFFICE: (802) 662-5304
CELL: (802) 881-8426
FAX: (802) 872-9704
Bradley_Young@FWS.GOV
www.fws.gov/lcfwro