U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy says Vermont and New York are winning the fight against sea lamprey in Lake Champlain.
Leahy, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, on Friday announced a $600,000 appropriation for continued treatment of lamprey, an eel-like invasive species that wounds other species native to the lake.
He and other officials said the program had seen success so far, with lamprey wounding of native lake trout and salmon down significantly.
He and other officials also showed off a new 26-foot boat recently acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to handle sea lamprey control on the lake.
The custom-built boat uses state-of-the-art guidance systems and application technology to direct chemical lampricide to precisely where needed in river delta habitats, and to avoid non-target areas.
