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GLSC’s Hammond Bay Biological Station (HBBS) staff hosted Ralph Lampman of the Yakama Nation Fisheries (Pacific Lamprey Project) on a trip to Michigan during the week of November 7, 2022, for work related to the Sea Lamprey Aquaculture and Procurement (SLAP) Initiative. SLAP is an effort that began in 2022 to procure larval, metamorphosing, and juvenile sea lamprey for Great Lakes Fishery Commission-funded research, much of which occurs in partnership with HBBS. Acquiring these life stages from the wild is challenging and expensive. The initiative was put into action to provide an adequate supply of these hard-to-acquire life stages. The goals of SLAP are to:

1. Develop a sea lamprey rearing program,
2. Develop a research program to complete the sea lamprey life cycle in the lab, and
3. Establish a formal partnership with Pacific lamprey biologists and managers to facilitate knowledge exchange.

During the visit, Nick Johnson, Trisha Searcy, and Tyler Bruning (GLSC, Millersburg, Michigan), along with John Hume (Michigan State University), and Ralph dissected larval sea lamprey in the lab at HBBS for an ongoing feeding experiment. Ralph received a tour of the station and participated in the routine monitoring of out-migrating juvenile sea lamprey nets. Afterwards, Nick and Ralph traveled to Central Michigan University to present a joint seminar on lamprey and career path for a senior fisheries class. They highlighted the invasive nature of sea lamprey throughout the Great Lakes region and the importance and value of native lamprey species elsewhere. During the same week, Nick, Trisha, Ralph, and John, along with Weiming Li, Tyler Buchinger, and YuWen Chung-Davidson (Michigan State University), Margaret Docker, Ken Jefferies, Sara Good (University of Manitoba), and Mike Wilkie (Wilfred Laurier University) attended a multi-day coordination and planning meeting for SLAP.