Workers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will apply lampricides to portions of the Brevort River in Mackinac County in early October to kill sea lamprey larvae burrowed into the stream bottom. Application of the pesticide is planned to begin on or around Tuesday, October 3, and conclude Thursday, October 12. Application dates are tentative and may change owing to weather or stream conditions.

Sea lamprey larvae live in certain Great Lakes tributaries and transform into parasitic adults that migrate into the Great Lakes and kill fish. Lamprey larvae are killed in streams to protect the Great Lakes fishery. Infested tributaries must be treated every three to five years.

The lampricides Lampricid and Bayluscide pose no unreasonable health risk to the general population or environment when applied at proper concentrations to kill larval sea lampreys, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency. As with any pesticide, the public is advised to use discretion and minimize unnecessary exposure. Persons confining bait fish or other organisms in stream water are advised to use an alternate water source. Agricultural irrigation must be suspended for 24 hours during and following treatment.

Lampricides are carefully metered into the stream for approximately 12 hours, and continually analyzed at predetermined sites to assure that proper concentrations are maintained as the lampricides are carried downstream. Applicators are trained and certified by the state for aquatic applications of pesticides.

The program is contracted through the Great Lakes Fishery

Commission to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The Commission is researching programs to develop alternative lamprey control measures, including the release of sterile male sea lampreys in the St. Marys River, increasing the number of barriers on lampreyproducing streams, and barrier design, traps, attractants, and biological controls.