The return of the predaceous eel-like fish -- sea lamprey -- in the British waters is a welcome phenomenon for conservationists as well as environmentalists.
sea lamprey makes return to river tamar
The bizarre looking parasitic pests are one of Britain's rarest fish and have been spotted in the West Country River in record numbers. Hugely welcomed by scientists from the Environment Agency, the sea lampreys population surge has been discovered in the River Tamar while monitoring for salmon and sea trout.
The lamprey being sensitive to pollution and having the habit of spawning in clean rivers is an effective tool in indicating the health of river environment.
But, with the fish's habit of attaching to all types of large fish with their suction mouth and teeth, using their tongue to rasp through its scales and skin to feed on its blood and body fluids, it may eventually endanger all big fish, importantly including salmon!
Video footage has shown sea lampreys' migration up the Tamar in much higher numbers than normal, along with the salmon's swimming upstream to spawn.
Surprised by the finding, Paul Elsmere of the Agency said:
Every so often there is a huge surge in lamprey numbers on the Tamar. The last bumper year was in 2000. We don't fully understand why these fluctuations occur, but it could be linked to the sea lamprey's rather unusual life cycle.
But, hope the sea lamprey populations will not explode to the extent of collapsing the British waters' economic mainstay fish species - like that what happened with the vibrant Great Lakes fishery in the 1940's and 1950's.
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