Jason Spellicy

Town Supervisor

PO Box 250

 2083 State Rt. 49

North Bay, NY  13123

Dear Mr. Spellicy,

This letter is to inform you that Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), in partnership with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (Commission), plans to conduct a sea lamprey control treatment on Fish Creek (including Little River) in Oneida County. The treatment window is tentatively scheduled for Sept 8-25, 2026, while treatment of the system itself is expected to take 7-10 days overall, and the final dates are dependent on weather and stream conditions.

As part of the notification process, landowners along streams that will be treated have been sent a postcard containing additional information about sea lampreys and the control program. In addition, DFO and Commission staff were in the area contacting landowners in person in early April 2026. Lastly, this notification letter has been sent to local municipalities.

Sea lampreys are invasive parasitic fish native to the Atlantic Ocean that entered the Great Lakes in the early 1900s through shipping canals. They attach to fish using a suction-cup mouth lined with teeth, feed on the blood and bodily fluids, and often kills their hosts. A single sea lamprey can destroy up to 40 pounds of fish during its 12-18 month parasitic phase. Because of the sea lampreys high reproductive potential a single female can lay tens of thousands of eggs uncontrolled populations can cause severe and lasting damage to valuable Great Lakes fisheries, including those in lakes Oneida and Ontario.

During treatment, trained and certified crews will apply lampricides to target sea lamprey larvae living burrowed in the streambed for up to 12 hours. This method of control, which has been used since 1958 has undergone extensive review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Health Canada and is considered safe for people and the environment when applied at the approved concentrations. Treatments are carefully planned and continuously monitored, including testing lampricide concentration and water chemistry at various sites before and during application.

During this period, you may notice sea lamprey control field crews working along the stream or see temporary red or green coloration in the water. The colors come from non-toxic dyes used to monitor stream water flow so that precise concentrations of lampricides can be achieved during treatment. The lampricide treatment itself will tint the water slightly yellow, will flush from the system once the treatment ends, and dilutes and degrades to non-detectable levels shortly after the treatment ends.

As a precaution, agricultural irrigation drawn from the treated sections of the stream should be suspended at the start of the treatment until 24 hours after it concludes, and anyone holding bait fish or other aquatic organisms in stream water should use an alternate water source during that time.

This work is part of a long-standing Great Lakes conservation program that has played a critical role in maintaining a healthy $5.1 billion fishery both commercial and recreational and the local economies dependent on them.

As a source of local information, we ask that you share this information with your local constituents through whatever means you have available, including social media. If you would like us to share this information on social media, please contact Jill Wingfield below with the names of local groups or pages who would benefit from this information.

For more information or if you have any questions, please contact the following:

For landowner-related questions: contact the Sea Lamprey Control Center main desk at 1-705-941-3000 or 1-866-290-3731 and they will pass your message along to the control supervisor.

For media-related questions: Jill Wingfield at 734-262-7717 or jwingfield@glfc.org

Other Useful Resources

For more information on sea lamprey and control efforts: https://www.glfc.org/sea-lamprey.php

Documentary on sea lamprey in the Great Lakes and the control efforts: https://www.thefishthief.com/

Information on lampricide applications: https://www.glfc.org/pubs/factsheets/FACT%204A_HR.pdf

Lamprey Treatment Schedule (most up to date information): https://www.glfc.org/treatment-schedule.php