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Integrated Management of Sea Lamprey Decision
Support System
Great Lakes Fishery Commission
Great Lakes populations of sea lamprey have been
reduced successfully with control measures to the point where it
is now possible to specify sea lamprey control programs that are
environmentally and economically efficient. ESSA was retained by
the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to facilitate the process of
consolidating current scientific understanding of the lamprey-lake
trout system into a scientific protocol for integrated management
of sea lamprey. ESSA conducted two interdisciplinary workshops:
1) to define policy decision criteria for defining an optimal abundance
of parasitic phase lamprey; and 2) to define the technical approach
to protocol implementation.
Based on the information gathered from these
workshops, ESSA developed a state-of-the-art lamprey population
simulation model with dynamic links to a treatment selection system
that covers the full range of treatment options and sites within
the Great Lakes. The model features an easy-to-use Windows interface
with which users can create a treatment schedule, simulate the effects
of barriers, traps and sterile male release on populations, and
run long term scenarios of alternative treatment programs. The model
includes context-sensitive online help, and is accompanied by a
comprehensive user guide.
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