2003 Report - Great Lakes Fishery Commission

Lake Huron
Lake Huron has 1,761 (1,334 Canadian, 427 U. S.) tributaries. 120 (55 Canadian, 65 U. S.) tributaries have historical
records of sea lamprey larvae production, and of these, 68 (37 Canadian, 31 U. S.) tributaries have been treated with
lampricide at least once during 1994-2003. 46 (24 Canadian, 22 U. S.) tributaries are treated on a regular cycle.
Table 4 provides details on the application of lampricides to tributaries treated during 2003 and Fig. 1 shows the
locations of the tributaries. In 2003:
• Lampricide treatments were completed in 18 Lake Huron streams (8 Canadian, 10 U. S.);
• Long Lake Outlet in Alpena County was treated for the first time. An infested upstream section of the river was
not treated because of uncooperative land owners;
• The protocol for application of lampricides to streams with populations of young-of-year lake sturgeons
(Acipenser fulvescens) was followed during treatment of the Carp River. Maximum application rates of
lampricides were limited to 1.2 times the minimum lethal concentration (concentration of lampricide necessary to
kill 99.9% of sea lampreys in a 12-hour treatment) to protect juvenile lake sturgeons. The 9.6 km treated with
the sturgeon protocol represents 1.7% of the 572.1 km of treated Lake Huron tributaries;
• Heavy thundershowers forced the release of water from two dams on the Pine River, a tributary of the Chippewa
River, nearly doubling the amount of lampricide necessary for treatment;
• The Pigeon River was treated to reduce the population of residual sea lampreys;
• Mortality of nontarget fish was minimal in the majority of treatments, with the exception of some mortality to
stonecat (Noturus flavus), a species sensitive to lampricide. A Voluntary Adverse Effects 6(a)(2) report was
submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency;
• Bayluscide granules were applied to areas of significant larval sea lamprey density in the St. Marys River by both
Service and Department treatment units. In total, 45.2 ha were treated; and,
• Brown’s Creek, treated in 2002, was added to the stream treatment list after assessment personnel detected a
high proportion of large (>120 mm) larvae in assessments conducted in 2003. The 2002 treatment was
compromised by a series of beaver dams that prevented treatment of the entire infested area.
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