I Love Lamprey!

Photo: Dave Olsen, AP

"We're not going to get salmon recovery unless we get lamprey recovery." - David Clugston, Fish Biologist, USACE

Lamprey and salmon share many similarities in habitat requirements, and salmon depend on lamprey to buffer them from predators. Lamprey, which move in schools, are higher in fat and calories than salmon. Predators like sea lions and seals prefer lamprey to salmon. With lamprey populations precipitously close to extinction, these sea mammals have resorted to salmon consumption which increases pressure on salmon populations. Additionally, lamprey return to freshwater streams to spawn and die. They are a significant contributor of nutrients to the watershed. The decline of lamprey means fewer nutrients and impoverished ecosystem function. This illustrates the important role of lamprey in the ecosystem. Loss of lamprey will have a dramatic impact on the salmon and on the health of entire watersheds.

Indigenous Peoples of the Columbia River Basin also have a unique relationship with lamprey. Lamprey is a vital "First Food" for physical and cultural well-being; the lamprey provide food, medicine, and contribute essential cultural services to the Columbia River Basin Peoples. Lamprey extinction will result in cultural extinction.

Since lamprey spend an extended portion of their life cycle filtering bottom sediments, elevated sediment contaminants result in high levels of toxins stored in fatty tissues. The consumption of lamprey that have survived polluted conditions causes a disproportionate impact on the health of Columbia River Indigenous Peoples.

Lamprey are humble - they are relatively unknown to the general public, however, they are essential to the Columbia River watershed and Indigenous Peoples who live there. My work for the Center for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction (CMOP) and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) supports efforts to restore lamprey populations. Lamprey has been mostly ignored, but CRITFC has drafted a restoration plan for the Columbia River Basin that details what needs to be done for the lamprey. Follow the links below to view the restoration plan and also an article in the Seattle Times that also provided source information for this blog.

http://www.critfc.org/text/lamprey/restor_plan.pdf
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008194850_lampreys22.html