Treatment boat applying bayluscide on the Saranac River Delta.

Treatment crews are briefed by USFWS Fish Biologist Stephen Smith prior to treatment.

On September 3^rd, sea lamprey populations, previously surveyed and mapped using deepwater electrofishing techniques, were treated with the granular lampricide, bayluscide.  Two 24-foot pontoon boats equipped with granular material spreaders targeted delta areas shown to contain high densities of sea lamprey larvae.  This strategy treated only infested areas of the delta.  Personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife provided a crew of 24 to post advisories, transport chemical, apply chemical, and collect larvae.  Lamprey mortality was observed at all treatment locations.  Surveys conducted during treatment indicate an estimated 100,000 -300,000 lamprey larvae were eliminated by this treatment.   

This was the second Bayluscide treatment that was conducted on Lake Champlain without the aid of guidance buoys.  An advanced GPS/Chart-plotting navigation unit was installed on one of the application boats to guide treatments.  Pre-determined treatment routes were created based on analysis of population surveys using GIS software and transferred to the navigation computer.  

This method represents a successful culmination of new sea lamprey assessment and bayluscide application techniques developed for use on Lake Champlain deltas.  Boat treatments eliminate the wasteful, less precise, and now prohibited application of bayluscide from fixed-wing crop-dusting aircraft.