[ODFW-News] Barrier removal helps Miller Lake lamprey

[ODFW News]

For Immediate Release Thursday, April 6, 2006

Barrier removal helps Miller Lake lamprey
 
SALEM - Using sledge hammers and chisels, Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife officials and volunteers recently removed a concrete and rock
dam on Miller Creek to provide a larger habitat for the Miller Lake
lamprey. 
 
The Miller Lake lamprey, a jawless fish with a toothed, funnel-like
sucking mouth, is the world's smallest predatory lamprey, reaching an
adult size of approximately four inches. They are a distinct species,
restricted in range to the Miller Lake drainage, the upper Williamson
River, and the upper Sycan drainages in northwest Klamath County. While
plentiful in the streams of the Klamath Basin where they occur, this
lamprey species is globally unique. 
 
Thought to be extinct in 1959, researchers from Oregon State University
in 1992 rediscovered the lamprey in the upper Williamson River. A
conservation plan was developed to provide future management of this
unique species. 
 
"Most Oregonians recognize ODFW's efforts to promote and enhance
fisheries for angling, but it is really exciting to work on recovering
such a rare, little-known member of this fragile ecosystem," said ODFW
Fish Biologist Roger Smith. "We hope to learn more about Miller Lake
lamprey in the years ahead so they can be enjoyed by future
generations."
 
ODFW officials developed management strategies to promote Miller Lake
lamprey that include carefully managing shoreline areas used by the
lamprey for spawning and development. Other considerations include
addressing potential impacts from stocking streams with hatchery fish
and establishing stream connectivity between local populations. 
 
Lampreys navigate small tributaries for fall spawning. They construct
depressions in sand and gravel to deposit their eggs. The juvenile
lampreys spend approximately five years in the stream bottom before
emerging as adults.
 
###
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/pipermail/odfw-news/attachments/20060406/de0b1a72/attachment.htm