BIG CREEK SEA LAMPREY TRAPPING CONTRACT

BACKGROUND:
DFO has played a vital role in the sea lamprey control program since 1955.  It is a binational program that is coordinated by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) and serves to protect the fisheries of the Great Lakes, which have an estimated economic benefit of $7 billion annually.  Control is achieved primarily by extensive treatment of streams to eliminate larval sea lampreys. To measure how effective the control program is each year, DFO estimates the populations of adult sea lamprey in each lake on an annual basis.  This is done by using traps to estimate populations in streams and then extrapolating to the entire lake.  The results help to direct sea lamprey management.

Since 1956, DFO has been collecting spawning-phase sea lampreys from Big Creek, as part of a Lake Erie network of traps intended to monitor sea lamprey populations.  Initially carried out irregularly with mechanical and electrical weirs and portable traps, a low-head barrier with fishway and trap inserts was installed in 1996.

Service contracts to operate traps are expected to be the most cost-effective option because the qualified, experienced individuals live nearby, which results in lower costs.


OBJECTIVE:
Operate the sea lamprey traps at Big Creek, conducting a mark and release study with the sea lamprey captured, and collect and supply raw data to be used to generate a population estimate in this stream.  This population estimate will be used along with that of other streams to estimate the population in all of Lake Erie.