Smoke signals., March 01, 2015, Image 9

S moke S ignals
MARCH 1, 2015
9
Study finds lamprey decline continuing
By Mark Floyd
Oregon State University
CORVALLIS – A new study aimed
at understanding habitat needs for
Pacific lamprey in western Oregon,
an important traditional food for
many of the state’s Native Amer-
icans, found the once-abundant
fish that is both ecologically and
culturally significant prefers side
channels and other lower water
velocity habitats in streams.
However, because of the legacy of
historic land uses in the Northwest
– including human settlement and
activities – these habitats are much
less common that they were in the
past. And that may explain why
populations of lamprey have de-
clined over the past several decades
– not only in western Oregon, but
throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Results of the study were recently
published in the Ecology of Fresh-
water Fish.
“The lamprey declines have prob-
ably been going on for the past half
century, but it wasn’t until the last
15 to 20 years that they have been
recognized by many in the scientific
community,” said Luke Schultz,
a research assistant in Oregon
State University’s Department of
Fisheries and Wildlife and lead au-
thor of the study. “Today lamprey
populations are about 5 percent to
10 percent of the 1960s totals at
Bonneville Dam, and the story is
much the same elsewhere.
“The Willamette River basin is one
of the few places that still appears
to have decent numbers of lamprey
because of its system of sloughs and
side channels. But they are facing
new threats, such as introduced fish
species that prey on them – especial-
ly bass – so we’ll likely be hearing
more about this emerging threat in
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES ORDINANCE
OPEN FOR COMMENT
The Tribal Council, in consultation with the Tribal Attorney’s
Office, is considering amendments to the Children and Families
Ordinance. The proposed amendments were given a First Reading
at the Feb. 11, 2015, Tribal Council meeting. The primary purpose
of the proposed amendments is to ensure grandparents are given
notice of hearings in dependency cases.
The Tribal Council invites comment on the proposed amendments
to the Children and Families Ordinance. For a copy of the proposed
amendments. please contact the Tribal Attorney’s Office at 503-879-
4664. Please send your comments to the Tribal Attorney’s Office,
9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347, or by e-mail
to legal@grandronde.org. Comments must be received by March 31,
2015. n
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UNDER WHO ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE SEEN AT THE TRIBAL CLINIC.
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pointment. Dental check-ups are recommended beginning with the first
tooth!
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the next few years.”
Schultz is project leader of Oregon
Cooperative Fish Research Unit’s
Pacific lamprey project, a joint effort
between Oregon State University
and the U.S. Geological Survey
that is seeking to learn more about
the fish and restore its habitat. Al-
though this latest article focuses on
the Willamette Basin, Schultz and
his colleagues at Oregon State, the
Geological Survey, Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have
looked at lamprey populations and
habitat from the Columbia River in
northeastern Oregon to southern
Oregon’s Umpqua River.
The causes of Pacific lamprey
decline are myriad, researchers
say. Restoring their numbers will
require mitigation in the form of
restoring habitat to include com-
plex channels and deep pools, and
the removal of barriers that block
access to spawning grounds for
adult lampreys, the authors note.
“Removal or mitigation will allow
lampreys to recolonize those areas,”
Schultz said.
Some factors affecting the lam-
prey decline may be out of the
researchers’ control, Schultz said,
specifically ocean conditions. Lam-
prey require an abundance of food;
ocean conditions that are favorable
to salmon are usually beneficial
for lampreys, as well. Rather than
swimming freely, lamprey may
attach themselves to large fish,
or even whales, sea lions or other
marine animals – and the abundant
ocean prey lets them grow large.
“Pacific lamprey may spend one
or two years in the ocean,” Schultz
said. “They will weigh less than
an ounce when they go there as
juveniles, and they may grow to 30
inches in length and up to 2 pounds
before they return.”
Although Pacific lampreys are
anadromous, another species, the
brook lamprey, only grows to a
length of 6 to 7 inches and stays in
fresh water for its entire lifespan of
four to eight years.
It is the Pacific lamprey that re-
searchers are focusing on because of
their one-time abundance, larger size
and more prominent ecological role.
“These are really interesting ani-
mals that have historic importance in
the Pacific Northwest,” Schultz said.
“They can live up to about 10 years
or so – about three times longer than
the Coho salmon life cycle – and they
are roughly six times as energy-dense
as salmon, making them important
prey. Because of that, I like to call
them swimming sticks of butter.”
When lampreys are abundant,
they reduce predation by a variety
of species, especially sea lions, but
also sturgeon, birds, bass and wall-
eye, on juvenile salmon and steel-
head. It may not be an accident that
salmonid numbers have declined at
the same time lamprey populations
have diminished.
The research in the study has led
to some habitat restoration work
supported by the Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
Helping lamprey populations recov-
er has important social significance
as well as ecological importance,
Schultz said.
“Lampreys were an incredibly im-
portant resource for many Northwest
Tribes because they provided a source
of protein in the summer months
when salmon weren’t readily avail-
able,” Schultz said. “Now the only
place where there is even a limited
Tribal harvest is at Willamette Falls.”
“We have worked with Luke
Schultz and he has been a real asset
to the Tribe,” said Kelly Dirksen,
Grand Ronde Fish and Wildlife Pro-
gram manager. “He has trained our
staff to identify lamprey redds – the
nest in the gravel where lamprey
deposit their eggs. Luke and his
crew have also assisted us in our
lamprey translocation program. He
has a critical role in assessing the
distribution and extent of Pacific
lamprey in the Willamette Basin.
“Our project goal is to expand
where lamprey can go. The trans-
location project has resulted in
Pacific lamprey spawning in waters
they have not accessed in almost 50
years. Luke and our staff were the
ones to find the first lamprey redd
in Fall Creek last season.” n