Chemical control of the sea lamprey: the addition of a chemical to the environment.

Abstract

Construction of the Welland Canal enabled shipping to by-pass Niagara Falls and enter the upper Great Lakes and also eliminated the barrier to the entry to the lakes by the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus Linnaeus). Within forty years the commercial fisheries of the Great Lakes was almost eliminated by this parasitic cyclostome. A search for selective chemical control of the sea lamprey was undertaken in the 1950's and culminated with the discovery of TFM (3-Trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol). At the request of the International Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife undertook to assess the hazard of TFM to the aquatic ecosystem, to humans as well as to fish and wildlife. Studies were undertaken in Bureau laboratories as well as by contracts with university and private laboratories. Results of these studies to-date indicate that this material is not subject to biomagnification and does not pose a hazard to man or the the environment.