U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees, Wayne Bouffard and Bradley Young, check a sea lamprey trap in a tributary to Lake Champlain, Malletts Creek, Vermont.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees, Wayne Bouffard and Stephen Smith, set a sea lamprey trap in a tributary to Lake Champlain, Beaver Brook, New York.

The beginning of summer marks the end of a successful sea lamprey trapping season by the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Resources Office.  As soon as the ice is out and the flows are down, temporary lamprey barriers with traps are deployed in order to prevent adults from migrating up tributaries to spawn.  This year, traps were set in six tributaries to Lake Champlain in both New York and Vermont.

The barriers are composed of plastic mesh fencing that runs bank to bank and is secured by fence posts driven into the streambed.  Centered in the fencing are funnel-type traps that capture sea lamprey and other aquatic species too large to pass through the fence.  Regular tending of the traps ensures that lamprey can be removed and eliminated, while allowing non-target organisms like other fishes, frogs and crayfish to be released unharmed above the temporary barrier.  This type of barrier is unique to Lake Champlain and is one part of the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative's integrated sea lamprey control program. 

Numbers of adult lamprey trapped this year were down from previous years suggesting a positive effect on controlling reproduction in the trapped tributaries. The lower numbers are believed to be the result of fewer larvae left in these annually trapped streams that produce a pheromone scent that attracts the migrating adults. Trapping efforts will continue as long as they continue proving to be one of several effective methods of sea lamprey control for Lake Champlain.