The Growing Threat of Lampreys in the Great Lakes: Impact on Ecosystem and Tourism

2023-07-14 18:01:00

The number of lampreys on the Great Lakes region between Canada and the United States would be increasing and would threaten the ecosystem as well as the tourist industry. Explanations.

She sows terror: the lamprey. The aquatic animal, dubbed a “vampire creature”, which resembles an eel, has invaded the Great Lakes region between Canada and the United States, reports Geo. With a mouth filled with rows of tiny teeth, its appearance can scare… and disrupt the ecosystem as well as tourism.

An invasive species

Although the region is doing everything to reduce the lamprey population, their number has increased in recent years, according to our colleagues. “They look like sci-fi creatures. They’re mean,” a fishing pro told Geo. The latter, like many fishermen in the region, is particularly annoyed by the presence of these “vampire creatures” because the pest comes to hinder fishing sessions.

“A salmon we caught this morning had a snagged lamprey, and it had a sucker wound on both sides of its body. To get a decent image for my client, I had to tilt the fish so that its fin covers most of the wound”, complains the fisherman. No wonder, when you know that lampreys generally kill the fish to which they attach themselves, recalls Geo.

These disrupted fishing grounds are a problem because, in the Great Lakes region, fishing is necessary for the tourist industry.

For now, teams of specialists are trying to irradiate the animal on rivers and streams. A chemical might be used to speed up the process.

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