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Develop Experimental Use Permits, Datasets and Develop Registration Plans for Sea Lamprey Pheromones in Compliance with United States and Canadian Biopesticide Regulations

Principal Investigator: Terry Hubert

Impact of UMESC Science

The result of this technical assistance is critical to developing a lamprey pheromone as a tool to control lamprey populations in the Great Lakes. If lamprey populations are left uncontrolled, the effects lamprey would have on the fishery industry in the Great Lakes would be devastating.

Introduction

The USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) provides assistance to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission GLFC), USGS Hammond Bay Biological Station, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and university partners in matters regarding state and federal experimental permits, compliant study conduct and development of a registration plan for the sea lamprey migratory and male sea lamprey sex phermones being investigated as a viable alternative control strategy in the GLFC Integrated Sea Lamprey Control Program.

Assistance includes, but is not limited to;

1. working closely with partners and the EPA to ensure the continued approval of and compliance to the Experimental Use Permits (EUPs);
2. working closely with partners to gain state permits with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MIDEQ) to comply with MIDEQ permit reporting requirements;
3. educating pheromone staff in EPA FIFRA Good Laboratory Practices Standards and Experimental Use Permit regulations, which are required by the EPA;
4. reviewing facilities, methods and records for regulatory compliance;
5. working with the EPA, PMRA and contract labs to develop possible registration scenarios, costs and timelines should the pheromones prove effective.

Objective

Provide the GLFC, FWS, and university partners with the assistance needed to obtain permits and educate staff to conduct research on the effectiveness of the pheromones and longer term registration plans.