Premium
An Economic Injury Level Approach to Establishing the Intensity of Sea Lamprey Control in the Great Lakes
Author(s) -
Koonce Joseph F.,
Eshenroder Randy L.,
Christie Gavin C.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8675(1993)013<0001:aeilat>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - petromyzon , lamprey , salvelinus , fishery , trout , environmental science , fish <actinopterygii> , abundance (ecology) , ecology , biology
Tightening budgetary constraints have forced the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to reevaluate the effectiveness of its program to control sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus in the Great Lakes. One rational option requires setting target levels of control for each of the Great Lakes. This paper is an analysis of an economic injury level approach to setting a target level of control for Lake Ontario. Using a decision support system for the integrated management of sea lamprey in Lake Ontario, we show that calculation of optimal levels of adult sea lamprey is feasible, We calculate that the economic injury level of adult sea lampreys in Lake Ontario is 30,000 fish (95% confidence interval, 16,400–43,600). We predict that this level of abundance could be achieved with an annual application of 9,400 kg of the lampricide TFM. Relative to this standard, Lake Ontario is currently undertreated for sea lamprey control. Implementation of this approach to setting target levels will require further work on estimating the effectiveness of control of sea lamprey and the value of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush .