MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assessment crew will survey the Muskegon River in Muskegon County between July 30 and Aug. 6 to determine how many sea lampreys are in the river.
The population survey is to determine the need for lamprey control. Sea lampreys are an invasive parasitic species that destroy fish by attaching to them with a suction-cup mouth and feeding on blood and body fluids.
Fishery biologists and technicians conduct such surveys in hundreds of Great Lakes streams each year, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Most are done using electric shock, but in deep waters, crews use a lampricide approved by the U.S. EPA called Bayluscide 3.2% Granular Sea Lamprey Larvicide, applied in accordance with state of Michigan permits. The time-release formulation of coated sand granules is sprayed over a measured surface of water, according to the service. It sinks to the bottom, quickly dissolves and causes larval sea lampreys to leave their burrows and swim to the surface where they are collected.
The sea lamprey control program is formulated and implemented by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Geological Survey.