Developing Cost-Effective Ways to Produce a Pheromone that Controls Sea Lamprey

Project Summary

Previous Sea Grant-supported work led to the discovery of a migratory pheromone that lures the invasive sea lamprey. This project seeks to develop practical, cost-effective ways to produce a major constituent of that pheromone. Sea lampreys are currently controlled by a pesticide that sometimes kills other fish, so the Great Lakes Fishery Commission is pursuing less toxic alternatives.

Pheromones (chemical signals that animals use to communicate) are non-toxic and target specific species. Both male and female lampreys rely on this pheromone to migrate into spawning streams. The commission hopes to use synthetically produced pheromones to confuse or lure lamprey into traps before they spawn. Field tests have demonstrated that the pheromone can increase capture rates by six-fold in small streams.

The problem is that producing the pheromone is costly. Researchers hope to develop a process to synthesize the most important part of the pheromone (petromyzonamine disulfate) more efficiently so that it can be produced in the relatively large quantities necessary to sustain sea lamprey control programs.