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Project 1

Project Title:  Evaluation of an alternative model of stream selection for lampricide treatment
Investigators: Gretchen J. Anderson, Michael L. Jones
Contact: Gretchen Anderson (ande1125@msu.edu)

Abstract:
Sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) are invasive to the Great Lakes, and their impacts on the native fish community are well documented.  Sea lampreys in the Great Lakes are managed largely through the treatment of tributaries with lampricides that target the non-parasitic larval stage.  A resource-intensive but imperfect larval assessment process (Quantitative Assessment Sampling, QAS) is currently used to determine which streams to treat in a given year.  Recent studies have identified major sources of uncertainty in this assessment and stream selection process.  Approaching this uncertainty in management decisions through an adaptive management framework, we are comparing the costs (assessment expenditures) and benefits (sea lampreys killed) of an alternative assessment method versus the current method by conducting both methods on a basin-wide scale from 2005-2007.   The use of RA allowed for the treatment of more streams in 2005 and 2006, and based on population estimates generated by QAS and those generated by capture-recapture experiments, ranking streams based on RA would allow greater suppression of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes.  Another means through which assessment expenses could be reduced is through the incorporation of historical knowledge into stream selection decisions.  Some tributaries are highly regular in their cycles of lamprey production and need for lampricide treatment, while others vary widely, indicating the presence of greater natural variability in recruitment and larval growth rates in the latter group.   We analyzed historical survey data from 1959-2005 using mixed-effects models to test for differences in recruitment and growth to age-1 between regularly and irregularly treated streams.  Recruitment to age-1 was twice as large in regularly treated streams than in irregularly treated streams, indicating that year class strength is established early in the lamprey life cycle. We found no consistent differences in growth to age-1 among categories of streams.  This knowledge of population level processes that influence the dynamics of sea lamprey production can help to shape future assessment and control procedures by directing assessment to the appropriate life stage and by facilitating the integration of historical data into the stream selection procedure.

For more information:
Michael L. Jones, Ph.D : http://glpd.fw.msu.edu/Mike/
Gretchen J. Anderson, M.Sc. : http://glpd.fw.msu.edu/Mike/anderson.htm
Great Lakes Fishery Commission: http://www.glfc.org/lampcon.php