USFWS Biologists Nick Staats and Steve Smith monitor chemical injection on the Winooski River treatment.

USFWS Biologist Wayne Bouffard consults with Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department Bilogist Bernie Pientka during the Winooski River Treatment.

During the months of September, October, and November the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative (the Cooperative), which consists of personnel from the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, worked together to control sea lamprey populations in five tributaries to Lake Champlain using a chemical lampricide.  Three tributaries were treated in New York: Mount Hope Brook, Mill Brook, and the Great Chazy River.  Two tributaries were treated in Vermont: the Winooski River and the Missisquoi River.  Lamprey mortality, consistent with expectations, was observed on all tributaries.  Pre-treatment population estimates showed that these five treatments resulted in the elimination of about 665,000 sea lamprey from the Lake Champlain Basin.  Sea lamprey populations are being controlled as part of an ongoing effort by the Cooperative to restore populations of lake trout and landlocked Atlantic salmon in Lake Champlain.