Federal firings could wreak havoc on Great Lakes fishery

Sweeping layoffs of federal employees have struck the program responsible for controlling the invasive sea lamprey that threatens fish across the Great Lakes, the earth’s largest freshwater ecosystem. Among hundreds of US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) employees terminated this month were 12 members of the Great Lakes sea lamprey control program, based at field stations in Marquette and Ludington, Michigan. These staffing cuts could have grave consequences for the lakes’ native fish population and the $5 billion fishery they comprise. For over seven decades, the binational Great Lakes Fishery Commission has been tasked by both Canada and the United States with controlling the lamprey population throughout the lakes. Each year, the commission contracts with USFWS to spread pesticide targeting the larvae of sea lampreys. In Michigan, the fish and wildlife control team distributes a chemical known as TFM in rivers and tributaries where lampreys are known to lay their eggs. Left un ... Read full article.