Lampricide treatments critical in Pennsylvania’s Erie streams as efforts continue to kill off invasive predator in Great Lakes

Efforts to kill sea lamprey larvae in Conneaut Creek in Pennsylvania were conducted in late April at the start of a six-month-long lampricide program slated for the entire Great Lakes.
Streams are being treated with chemical compounds that are selectively toxic to lampreys but pose “no unreasonable risk to the general human population or the environment,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency.
The program, which is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, began more than 50 years ago. Streams are treated every three to five years to kill multiple year classes.