Sea Lampery

[instagator2005]

Hey did anyone else read Minn Outdoor News last week? The article from Shawn Perich. Says they might or will be reducing funds for lampery control!!! Thats not good for anyone who enjoys fishing the big lake. Shawn recommends all of us who do enjoy fishing the lake to contact Minn congressional delegation to support lampery control, I agree 100% So guys and gals please do your and our part to protect what we have give em a call!!! Thanks

[Capt.Blaine]

Lets all try and help, below is a sample letter. Change it to sound the way you want it to. Just copy and paste it in a Word doc.

Date, 2006

The Honorable Name

Address

Address

Address

Dear Senator or Representative Name:

I am writing to make sure that you are aware that the President's proposed budget does not fully fund the sea lamprey control program of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC). This bi-national commission is specifically tasked to control sea lamprey abundance in the Great Lakes. Without the required funding for sea lamprey control, the multi-billion dollar sport and commercial fisheries in the Great Lakes will be in jeopardy.

As I understand it, the current budget reduction now stands at 6%. This reduction in funding will have a negative impact on the Lake Superior sport and commercial fishery due to the increased mortality that sea lamprey impose upon the fishery. 1 am asking that you support the Senates proposal to not only restore full funding for the GLFC budget, but to increase the funding slightly to address the recent increase in sea lamprey throughout Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes.

Additionally, innovative work on pheromones to control sea lamprey will be delayed if full funding is not restored. If the pheromone work proves successful, as it appears to be, it would ultimately reduce the cost and amount of chemical needed to control sea lamprey. The research to implement this innovative technique is nearing its conclusion and it is critical that funding to complete the work be continued.

Any assistance that you can provide to restore or increase funding for the fiscal 2007 budget of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission would be greatly appreciated. Increased funding for sea lamprey control will directly benefit Minnesota in its management of the Lake Superior sport and commercial fishery.

Sincerely,

Name/Organization

I have the mailing addresses of several people in congress. Am I allowed to post these?

[Surface Tension]

Capt Blaine, thanks for that post and please post the mailing addresses.

[DEADhead]

Quote:

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Says they might or will be reducing funds for lampery control!!!

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that's been the idea kicked around by the feds for quite some time now...

Thanks for posting the sample letter to our congressmen.

This is an important factor to the recovery of our wonderful Lake Trout fishery in Superior. While I believe that our federal dollars should be spend on important things like homeland security, I just wish ANY administration would believe enough in protecting our resources and encouraging the proper management of them. The best way to show their support would be to fund these kinds of programs, and support others, like getting those international ship clowns to change their ballast water in the ocean, and quit bringing invasives into our continent.

[Surface Tension]

Agreed Deadhead.

One thing to note is the lake trout recovery on Superior took decades. Last thing we want to do is slack off on lamprey control.

[SKIPPERS KID]

This is a hard topic they do not have the funds to help???? .

[instagator2005]

I did send a letter out already, but not sure went to right guy!! Can yo put up addresses to send to? Thanks

[Capt.Blaine]

GREAT LAKES FISHERY COMMISSION Budget Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2007

(prepared Feb. 6, 2006)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• The fiscal 2007 budget requests SI2.1 million for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, a 15% decrease from last year's appropriation of S14.2 million. The commission will be forced to make significant reductions in the sea lamprey control program at a time when sea lamprey abundances are on the rise in many areas of the Great Lakes. The reduction will leave millions more sea lamprey larvae in the Great Lakes to continue to cause severe ecological and economic harm.

• The Great Lakes Fishery Commission carries out essential fishery management activities in the Great Lakes basin in support of the $4 billion-dollar sport, commercial, and tribal fishery and a healthy Great Lakes ecosystem.

THE FY 2007 BUDGET

The fiscal 2007 budget will lead to significant backsliding in the commission's effort to protect the Great Lakes fishery. The budget will force large-scale reductions in the sea lamprey control effort and will thwart the implementation of pheromone controls, just as innovative, new techniques are ready to be deployed.

The budget request for 2007 ($12.1 million) will:

• Force the commission into making significant reductions in the sea lamprey control program. Sea lampreys are a devastating pest in the Great Lakes; each lamprey will destroy up to 40 pounds of Great Lakes fish. The control program has allowed for a resurgence of the fishery, now valued at more than $4 billion annually. The fiscal 2007 budget will reduce sea lamprey control in streams, leaving millions of sea lamprey larvae in the system. The ecological and economic damage caused by increased sea lamprey abundances will be costly and devastating.

Curtail construction of new sea lamprey barriers and prevent repairs to existing dams that will allow the expansion of sea lamprey larval habitat and production to the Great Lakes. For example, efforts to design structures to block sea lampreys moving around the crumbling dam on the Manistique River will be postponed and the 200 miles of river above that structure will continue to produce sea lampreys, requiring future costly treatments.

Hamstring the development of innovative alternative sea lamprey control techniques, particularly the use of pheromones in sea lamprey control. The commission has invested millions of dollars during the previous years to develop and test the use of pheromones in sea lamprey management as the alternative to the use of lampricides. Moreover, the commission has taken advantage of the National Institute of Health's Sea Lamprey Genome Project to discover and exploit weaknesses in the sea lamprey's life cycle. The fiscal 2007 budget will draw to a close money-saving alternative control techniques, just as the investments are ready to pay off.

Significantly reduce fishery research. The commission carries out fishery research that contributes to the development and implementation of measures that protect the Great Lakes fishery. The proposed budget will slash the funds available for needed fishery research into areas like invasive species and native species restoration.

• Cause serious backsliding in the collective effort to protect and restore the Great Lakes fishery. The commission's program was included on the short list of priority programs under the highly successful Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, established by President Bush's Executive Order of May, 2004. The fiscal 2007 budget makes it difficult to fulfill the recommendations of the Regional Collaboration and will significantly harm the hard-won gains agencies throughout the Great Lakes have made in protecting and rehabilitating our valuable fisheries.

GREAT LAKES FISHERY COMMISSION-OVERVIEW

The Great Lakes fishery is a treasure shared by Canada and the United States. The fishery draws millions of anglers to the lakes, supports tens of thousands of jobs, and generates up to $4 billion annually in economic return to the people of the region each year. Moreover, healthy fish communities are an integral part of a healthy Great Lakes environment. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission is critical to the management of this fishery.

Established by the 1955 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries, a treaty between Canada and the United States, the commission has three primary responsibilities:

1. Sea Lamprey Control: Sea lampreys invaded the Great Lakes in the early 20th century through shipping canals and reached sufficient numbers to decimate fish populations. The commission's sea lamprey control program has been a phenomenal success, reducing these sea lamprey populations by about 90%. The successful sea lamprey control program has facilitated the recovery of the commercial fishery, helped create a dynamic sport fishery, and has served as the backbone for the restoration of many of the lakes' most precious native species.

2. Support for Cooperative Management: Eight states, the Province of Ontario, and the tribes together manage the Great Lakes fishery. The commission provides leadership and facilitates cooperation and co-management among these jurisdictions. Great Lakes fishery management is seen throughout the world as a model for interjurisdictional cooperation and effectiveness.

3. Coordinate Fishery Research: The commission coordinates Great Lakes fishery research. Fishery managers direct this research to help them better understand fish populations; this research serves as the foundation for sound, science-based management. The commission's research program is highly respected, peer-reviewed, and critical to fishery sea lampreys attach to fish with a suction cup mouth,

[Capt.Blaine]

The Honorable Mark Dayton

U.S. Senator

Bishop Hemy Whipple Federal Building

1 Federal Drive - Suite 298

Saint Paul, MN 55111

The Honorable Norm Coleman

U.S. Senator

2550 University Avenue West - Suite 100

North

Saint Paul, MN 55114

The Honorable Gil Gutknecht

U.S. Representative

1530 Greenview Drive Southwest- Suite 108

Rochester, MN 55902

The Honorable John Kline

U.S. Representative

101 East Bumsville Parkway - Suite 201

Burnsville, MN 55337

The Honorable Jim Ramstad U.S. Representative

1809 Plymouth Road South - #300 Minnetonka, MN 55305

The Honorable Betty McCollum U.S. Representative

165 Western Avenue North - Suite 17

Saint Paul, MN 55102

The Honorable Martin Sabo U.S. Representative 286 Commerce at the Crossings 250 Second Avenue South

Minneapolis, MN 55401

The Honorable Mark Kennedy

U.S. Representative

14669 Fitzgerald Avenue North - Suite 100

Hugo,MN 55038

The Honorable Collin Peterson U.S. Representative

714 Lake Avenue - Suite 107

Detroit Lake, MN 56501

The Honorable James Oberstar U.S. Representative 231 Federal Building

Duluth, MN 55802

[DEADhead]

thanks for posting the contact info!

Just a quick generaliztion of why programs like the sea lamprey control program are seeing budget cuts, without getting political.

Three things:

Homeland Security/Dept. of Defense, Katrina, and Iraq.

The costs for these three items are astronomical and are partly responsible for cuts to other programs in the federal budget.