The recent decision by the U.S. government to terminate over a dozen probationary federal workers has had significant repercussions for the bi-national agency that oversees the protection of the Great Lakes fishery.
Twelve employees from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and two from the U.S. Geological Survey, who played a role in controlling the invasive sea lamprey, were among those laid off. These workers contributed to the efforts of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, according to a commission spokesperson.
Greg McClinchey, the director of policy and legislative affairs for the commission, stated that it is still too early to assess the full impact of these staff cuts on the 2025 program, which is slated to begin in April. However, he suggested that the effects are likely to be negative.
“If the commission was to – and I’m not suggesting we’re going to do this, just to be clear – but if the fishery commission were to cut its control program by one third … that would mean there would be somewhere in the neighbourhood of about 2.5 million lamprey that would remain alive,” McClinchey explained. “Two-point-five million sea lamprey would eat 12 million pounds of fish. … And that economic loss potential is about $264 million.”
Sea lampreys, eel-like creatures with sucker mouths that latch onto fish and feed on them, were introduced into the Great Lakes roughly 100 years ago, McClinchey noted. Each lamprey consumes about 40 pounds of fish over its two-to-three-year lifespan, and each female can produce as many as 100,000 offspring. At their peak, the lampreys were consuming around 105 million pounds of fish annually, threatening to decimate the Great Lakes fishery within just a few years.
In the 1950s, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission was tasked with managing the sea lamprey population after earlier efforts by Canada, the U.S., and individual states and provinces proved ineffective. The commission’s lampricide treatment program, which is non-toxic to the surrounding ecosystem, currently kills about 8 to 9 million lampreys each year.
Approximately 85 employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service work on the lamprey control program, with about a third of them involved in larval assessments, while the remainder handle the application of lampricides in streams where lampreys breed.
McClinchey could not specify how many of the fired employees were new hires versus those who were on probation due to recent promotions, but he estimated that most fell into the latter category. He is currently in Washington, working to secure the necessary resources and support to ensure the program proceeds this year.
McClinchey did note that the commission has been assured that Fish and Wildlife will still be able to hire 25 seasonal workers to help with the program. “I think it’s become clear that nobody woke up and said, ‘Let’s hurt the Great Lakes Fishery Commission program,'” he remarked. “Nobody has sided with lamprey that I’ve been able to detect.”
The U.S. government has not reduced the funding for the program itself, McClinchey added. The commission continues to receive approximately $20 million annually from the U.S. government and about $8.5 million CAD from Canada, based on the respective shares of the Great Lakes in each country’s territory. It remains an option for the commission to contract with other service providers, such as universities, to obtain similar services. However, McClinchey stressed the challenge of replacing the trained and certified personnel currently involved in the program.
“The challenge is, of course, that the folks who are doing this program for us are, like … they’re trained. They’re expert. They’re certified,” he explained. “It’s not quite as easy as saying, ‘Let’s hire up a bunch of new people.’ They obviously have to be people with the skills and abilities to do the job.”
The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans continues to participate in the lamprey control program, and McClinchey noted that no cuts have been reported on the Canadian side. He remains hopeful that the U.S. government will provide the necessary support to ensure the 2025 program can move forward as planned.
“Failure is not an option,” he concluded, “because the Great Lakes are just too important to us.”
Meanwhile, Colin Cassin, Executive Director of the Invasive Species Centre, expressed concern about the potential impact on U.S. partners. “The challenge, from our perspective, is that invasive species don’t respect borders,” Cassin said. “The fish don’t have a passport.” He emphasized the importance of continued strong cross-border collaboration in tackling invasive species, hoping that such efforts will continue despite the challenges.
References:
CBC News. (2023, March 1). Cuts to sea lamprey control program could harm Great Lakes: Scientists. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/sea-lamprey-program-cuts-1.7468338
Dreher, L. (2025, February 13). Lamprey control in Great Lakes may fall victim to Trump jobs purge. MLive. https://www.mlive.com/environment/2025/02/lamprey-control-in-great-lakes-may-fall-victim-to-trump-jobs-purge.html