Vampire Fish May Take Over Lake Erie

With the news that the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is starting its program to poison and kill the larvae of a dangerous and invasive fish species that live in the Great Lakes, communities all over the Great Lakes region are preparing to make sure their fisheries are ready to get back to work.

However, current conditions in our political system may create conditions that would be prime to allow the dangerous sea lamprey to make a return.

If the current trajectory doesn't change, then conditions in one of the largest bodies of freshwater may get much worse for Americans and Canadians.

Vampire Fish May Take Over Lake Erie

The Great Lakes used to have a serious issue with Sea Lamprey, a parasitic self-sustaining populations of invasive species that is sometimes called a vampire fish. For years the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has worked in partnership with the Canadian government, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and several US states to kill this species of fish that first made its way into North America in the mid-1800s.

The fish, which has been all but eliminated, may be able to make a comeback thanks to budget and job cuts that have happened at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.

According to CBC more than a dozen workers who are responsible for the Sea Lamprey program have been fired from their jobs as part of the government wide job cuts that has happened since President Trump took office in January, 2025.

While the sea lamprey program has just started for the year, the loss of these staff is sure to have an impact on the agencies ability to administer these programs.