Electrical Barrier to Deter Sea Lampreys in Northwest Pennsylvania

Conneaut Creek in Crawford County, PA is a tributary to Lake Erie and a proven spawning ground for all species of lampreys, making it a perfect spot to research new methods of controlling these troublesome parasites. A cooperative effort between the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the United States Geological Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission was established to come up with a new method to not only eradicate the sea lamprey, but also preserve the northern brook (state endangered species) and the American brook (state threatened species).
The solution could be in the form of an electrical fence barrier. The barrier, which is the first of its kind, applies an electrical current into the water of Conneaut Creek each evening during the lampreys normal spawning movement. The barrier acts as a deterrent to the sea lampreys making their way up stream, providing biologists a smaller area in which to employ an effective treatment downstream of the barrier. In addition to the fence, traps (fyke nets) are placed concurrently with the barrier; bracketing the electrical barrier to test the its efficiency as a deterrent. Fyke nets are also set in additional downstream reaches, and additional tributary streams to capture sea lamprey and assist aquatic biologists with population estimates of sea lamprey in the watershed.
Biologists will continue to monitor the electric barrier and fyke nets until early June when the sea lampreys spawning season has concluded. Data from the experimental barrier and trapping efforts will be used to determine if these methods are sustainable as an alternative to chemical treatments to control sea lampreys in Conneaut Creek and beyond.