Local/Regional News

Cheboygan school newspaper club takes on sea lamprey reporting

WCMU | By Teresa Homsi

Published May 31, 2023 at 5:53 PM EDT

A team from the US Fish and Wildlife Service fields questions from student reporters from the Cheboygan School Chronicle May 9 at the Cheboygan River. The blue crane in the background is used to pull sea lamprey traps from the river.

A middle school club recently got to see some news, in action.

Students from the Cheboygan Middle School took a field trip to the Cheboygan River, where they got a chance to report on sea lamprey control in the Great Lakes.

The project was led by WCMU reporter Teresa Homsi as part of her position with Report for America. Teresa’s been working with the school for the last 8 months and recently started a newspaper club.

Listen to a snippet of the field trip and behind-the-scenes reporting from the club above.

Below is student coverage of the trip, contributed by 5th graders Olivia Brown and Taegan Custard.

Stories were created with help from 5th and 6th graders Braddock Fradette (lead interviewer), Nathan Goodrich (lead sound engineer), Jaidyn Gaus, Austin Gofourth, Tom Groya, Sam Kubiak, Lily Tebo, and Natalie Johnson. We'd like to give a big shoutout to supporting staff Adelynn, London, Cameron, Teagan, Becca, Leah, and Jason.

Officials remove sea lamprey traps from Michigan rivers during spawning season
By Olivia Brown, Cheboygan 5th Grader

Nathan Goodrich [left] pets a sea lamprey that was just removed from the trap on the Cheboygan dam while Olivia Brown [right] looks on.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service pulled out a sea lamprey trap at the Cheboygan River Dam May 9. During the spring, the FWS is emptying more than 40 traps across the state as lamprey are going up rivers to spawn.

A sea lamprey is an invasive species that kills up to 40 pounds of fish a year. The traps get sea lamprey out of the river before they can spawn.

Lauren Holbrook is with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. She said the use of traps and a chemical lampricide have brought down sea lamprey numbers by more than 90%.

“It really only takes a couple years of reducing treatment or stopping it to bring the sea lamprey population back up,” Holbrook said. “That’s why we say we always have our foot on the gas. We’re always out here every year because we have to keep the control program going.”

Jason Pynnonen, with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, helped remove the trap. He said the most sea lamprey removed from the Cheboygan dam in a single day was around 3,400.

The dam holds one of the largest traps in Michigan that can remove more than 15,000 lamprey every year.

After the traps are removed, some sea lamprey are sent to the Hammond Bay Research Facility, and the rest are killed.

Officials remove sea lamprey traps from Michigan rivers during spawning season
By Taegan Custard, Cheboygan 5th grader

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is taking sea lamprey traps out of Michigan rivers during lamprey spawning season. The Service pulled out a trap at the Cheboygan dam May 9.

Lamprey are invasive species that stick onto gamefish and suck blood out of them. They have almost no predators in the Great Lakes, which allows them to grow at a rapid pace if left unchecked.

As sea lamprey try to mate and go around a dam, they are caught in traps and removed.

Lauren Holbrook, with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, said at one point sea lampreys almost collapsed Great lakes fisheries. But traps and a chemical lampricide have brought sea lamprey numbers down by more than 90%.

Holbrook said a female sea lamprey can lay up to 100,000 eggs, so removing them before they can spawn is important.

“If they were able to get up this dam and over it, instead of being blocked by it and getting trapped, they would make their way miles upstream to find really good spawning habitats,” Holbrook said.

The Wildlife Service will be returning to the Cheboygan Dam daily over the span of nine weeks during spawning season.

Student reporters from the Cheboygan School Chronicle ask a team from the US Fish and Wildlife Service questions about sea lamprey at the Cheboygan dam May 9.

Lauren Holbrook with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission explains the history of sea lamprey in the Great Lakes to students from the Cheboygan School Chronicle May 9 at the Cheboygan dam. — Lauren Holbrook [right] with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission explains the history of sea lamprey in the Great Lakes to students from the Cheboygan School Chronicle May 9 at the Cheboygan dam.

5th grader Braddock Fradette [right] interviews a team from the US Fish and Wildlife Service while 5th grader Nathan Goodrich [left] holds a radio microphone at the Cheboygan dam May 9.

A team from the US Fish and Wildlife Service demonstrates to student reporters from the Cheboygan School Chronicle that sea lamprey don't prey on warm-blooded organisms in front of a . — A team from the US Fish and Wildlife Service demonstrates to student reporters from the Cheboygan School Chronicle that sea lamprey don't prey on warm-blooded organisms in front of a trap at the Cheboygan dam May 9.

5th grader Olivia Brown records the sea lamprey trap removal at the Cheboygan dam May 9.

5th grader Jaidyn Gaus walks with student reporters from the Cheboygan School Chronicle to the Cheboygan dam, where the US Fish and Wildlife Service will be removing a sea lamprey trap May 9.