Jessica Mathews / Associated Press / Planet Detroit


Sweeping layoffs of federal employees have struck the program responsible for controlling the invasive sea lamprey eel that threatens fish across the Great Lakes - the earth's largest freshwater ecosystem.

The Great Lakes sea lamprey control program, which uses pesticides to target lamprey larvae, now faces a 14% workforce reduction.

This cut could allow over 1 million lamprey to survive, consuming nearly 5 million pounds of fish and resulting in $105 million in lost economic output.

Among hundreds of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees terminated this month were 12 members of the Great Lakes sea lamprey control program, based at field stations in Marquette and Ludington, Michigan.

These staffing cuts could have grave consequences for the lakes' native fish population and the $5 billion fishery they comprise.

For over seven decades, the binational Great Lakes Fishery Commission has been tasked by both Canada and the United States with controlling the lamprey population throughout the lakes.

Each year, the commission contracts with USFWS to spread pesticide targeting the larvae of lamprey eels. In Michigan, the fish and wildlife control team distributes a chemical known as TFM in rivers and tributaries where lamprey are known to lay their eggs.

Left unchecked, lamprey larvae grow into parasitic adults that wreak havoc on aquatic ecosystems. With a toothy, suction-cup mouth it uses to latch onto other fish, a single lamprey can consume 40 pounds of fish in just one year. "They're nasty little critters, and they do horrific damage to an ecosystem," said Greg McClinchey, director of policy and legislative affairs for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

Prior to TFM's discovery in the late 1950s, the commission's job was herculean. But armed with the highly effective pesticide and some seasonal hires, it has been able to control lamprey populations with a relatively lean team. Each year, team members kill over 5 million larvae that would otherwise survive and spawn in the Great Lakes.

Staffing cuts throw a wrench in that work: The biological technicians laid off during the Trump administration's push for big cuts to the federal government represent nearly 14% of the lamprey control program's overall workforce.

"We don't do politics. We don't do that partisan stuff," McClinchey said. "But we can speak to outcomes. And when you take 12 people out of a group of 85, that's going to have an impact."

Cutting back the control program by one-sixth would allow over 1 million lamprey to survive, McClinchey estimated. Those lamprey would eat nearly 5 million pounds of fish, equalling $105 million in lost economic output and potential, far outstripping the cost of the workers' salaries.

Historically, the lamprey control program has garnered unanimous bipartisan support. "The program is obviously really effective, and so it has a lot of support across the board," said one technician laid off from the USFWS field station in Marquette.

She asked to remain unnamed, concerned that speaking to the press might impact her ability to return to USFWS in the future. Ten months into a career position at USFWS and two years into work at the agency, she was laid off Feb. 14.

"There is this culture of, "Oh, we're immune to these actions by the federal government," but that's obviously not the case here," she said.

Leading up to the layoff, supervisors informed her and all of her colleagues in probationary roles -- those who've held their current position for less than 12 months -- that they were at risk.

The worker said her supervisor was apologetic when she called with news of the layoffs. But when she received her official letter of termination in the mail on Monday, the tone was different.

"The Department has determined your knowledge, skills, and abilities do not meet the Department's current needs, and it is necessary and appropriate to terminate, during the probationary period, your appointment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service," the letter said.

Her performance reviews for the last year had been glowing, so the letter made no sense. "It's not a real explanation," she said.

The USFWS layoffs will not affect the sea lamprey control program in Canada, McClinchey said.

"The Canadian government has assured us that the money from Canada will continue to be there and we're on track to deliver a full program in Canadian waters," he said. "That's great, but this program works because it's border blind."

In other words: Cuts to lamprey control in U.S. waters are a threat to fish and fishermen everywhere on the Great Lakes.

Just a week ago, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission faced a more dire staffing situation, as the USFWS informed directors they'd also be unable to hire seasonal workers to spread lampricide come April. Within a few days, that hiring freeze was reversed, said McClinchey.

This reversal gives him a bit of hope. "That at least tells us no one is rooting for the lamprey," he said.

McClinchey is in D.C. for appropriation season, presenting the commission's work to members of Congress and defending the agency's budget. It's an annual trip, but this year he's also advocating for the reinstatement of laid-off lamprey control employees.

He is optimistic. "It seems clear to me that it's important we preserve this program, and so far everyone we've encountered thinks that way and are working to that end," he said.

Cutting back the program isn't really on the table for the commission. Even minor cuts to scope would be devastating for the fishery, he said.

Even the former USFWS employee from Marquette is remaining hopeful.

"I still think that they're going to scramble to make it happen," she said. "Because it's not really an option to just stop treating for a whole season."

Main Photo: T. Lawrence - Great Lakes Fisheries Commission - GLFC
Middle: John Lyons
Bottom: GLFC