Conservation Challenges and Research Needs for Pacific Lamprey in the Columbia River Basin

Abstract

The Pacific Lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus, an anadromous fish native to the northern Pacific Ocean and bordering freshwater habitats, has recently experienced steep declines in abundance and range contractions along the West Coast of North America. During the early 1990s, Native American tribes recognized the declining numbers of lamprey and championed their importance. In 2012, 26 entities signed a conservation agreement to coordinate and implement restoration and research for Pacific Lamprey. Regional plans have identified numerous threats, monitoring needs, and strategies to conserve and restore Pacific Lamprey during their freshwater life stages. Prime among these are needs to improve lamprey passage, restore freshwater habitats, educate stakeholders, and implement lamprey-specific research and management protocols. Key unknowns include range-wide trends in status, population dynamics, population delineation, limiting factors, and marine influences. We synthesize these key unknowns, with a focus on the freshwater life stages of lamprey in the Columbia River basin.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We dedicate this article to Elmer Crow (1944–2013; Figure 1E; Obituary 2013), who was instrumental in advocating for Pacific Lamprey conservation and restoration. This article originated from a workshop on lampreys of the West Coast of North America at the Oregon Hatchery Research Center during 2013. Co-authorship is arranged in alphabetical order. Tom Stahl, Greg Apke, Marty Fitzpatrick, and Christina Wang provided reviews of this article. This article benefited from the constructive reviews of two editors and two reviewers. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of USFWS.