Homepage

Sea Lamprey: Catching a Lake Ontario Killer Sea Lamprey: Catching a Great Lakes Killer

By James Kattato

In the 1900’s, The Eleanor D. was one of many fishing boats in oswego to catch and sell fish to local businesses, but not anymore.

“Within 20 years, commercial fishing, at least on the American side of Lake Ontario, was non-existent.”

A main culprit are sea lamprey, an invasive species to Lake Ontario that are known for killing 50% of cisco and trout in all great lakes. Michael Pittavino is the curator at the city’s maritime museum. He says getting rid of sea lamprey would help oswego get back to the city it used to be.

“I think by improving the health of Lake Ontario as a whole or great lakes or any ecosystem for that matter contributes to the economic vitality of a region.”

All great lakes in the united states like lake ontario use a pesticide that’s at least 85% effective in killing sea lampreys, but a biology professor at suny oswego says that studying the dna of a lamprey could be enough to further drive the numbers down

“Crisper is a technology that’s being used to actually edit genomes in living organisms.”

Nick sard says it’s called gene driving, a process in which tagged sea lampreys are released into the highest areas of reproduction, but they’re steryl, gradually wiping out the threat they have on other fish.

“You can manipulate that sex determination system to make all individuals one sex. When there’s only males and there are no females left, they bred themselves to extinction.”

Aard says through his research, this plan is feasible, and that would give local businesses like pittavino’s a boost.

“To have people actively involved in commercial fishing would lend much to our record too. we’re talking down the line in a century or so. It’d be great”

LAKE ONTARIO, N.Y. (NCC News) — Oswego Biology Professor, Nick Sard, likened his theory on sea lamprey to any major case that requires a deep dive into

“If we can identify where the larva come from, we can go right at the source.”

What he’s referring to is tracing a sea lamprey’s DNA. They want to try and find the culprit by going through family history of the suspect. During his presentation, Sard likened sea lamprey DNA tracing to the Golden Gate Killer case in 2018. In that  investigation, they followed family members around and used DNA from their everyday items to eventually trace their genes back to Joseph James DeAngelo, the convicted killer.

For sea lamprey, Sard said it would be more of the same. Sending out 5,000 units of lamprey tagged with this new DNA would allow for a spread of sterile males in the water, ultimately lowering the numbers of sea lamprey and creating a safe environment for the other fish in the lake.

Michael Pittavino, the H. Lee White Maritime Museum Curator, says sea lamprey are a problem, and while it may not address the entire issues, it’s a start.

“I think by improving the health of Lake Ontario as a whole or great lakes or any ecosystem for that matter contributes to the economic vitality of a region.”

Pittavino says not only would local fish markets benefit and make a comeback in Oswego, but businesses like the Maritime Museum would, too. Whether that comes from new boats to hit the water like the Eleanor D. did, or from artifacts they collect from commercial fishermen being back on the water and discovering new things, he said it’s all beneficial.

“To have people actively involved in commercial fishing would lend much to our record too. we’re talking down the line in a century or so. It’d be great”

Related Articles