Pedro Raposo de Almeida and Catarina Mateus on the Civil Society program
The reduction in lamprey populations in Portugal, and the increase in their cost on the market, are already well-known problems. MARE researchers Pedro Raposo de Almeida and Catarina Martins went on the television program Sociedade Civil to explain how to prevent and guarantee the recovery of this species that is disappearing from our rivers. 
MARE researchers have been monitoring lamprey populations in Portugal for the last few decades. The decline has worsened since 2014 due to various factors, such as habitat reduction on the Iberian Peninsula, overfishing and the high mortality of these animals at sea.
For this reason, the Mondego River has been the target of several investments to restore its habitat and adopt more sustainable management. “One of the things that was done (...) was the construction of several fish passages, to increase the area available for this species,” says Pedro Raposo de Almeida.
According to MARE's director, these constructions are only 30% efficient, so they were accompanied by fishing management measures, such as conditioning. This year, a project was also set up to speed up the recovery of lamprey populations in the River Mondego.
This new project includes translocating the animals upstream, where they reproduce. “The plan is for at least 400 to 500 (animals) to be translocated each year,” explains Pedro Raposo de Almeida. “At the same time, all the entities that have some responsibility for land management and the management of these resources, namely lamprey, will be involved.”
In addition, the project aims to identify the “sanctuaries” of this species, i.e. the areas where there is a high concentration of larvae. This measure is extremely important because it prevents interventions on the riverbed from affecting the animals. Lampreys spend the first five years of their lives buried in the sediment, until they undergo metamorphosis, and are therefore highly vulnerable to these interventions.
As they have a life cycle of around 7 years, Pedro Raposo de Almeida warns that “all the effort we make now will only pay off in eight or nine years”.
Catarina Mateus adds that a transnational observatory for the management of this species will be set up to fill some of the gaps in knowledge about the marine phase of the lamprey's life cycle.
“There are common challenges and threats, so we can achieve better results in the management of these species,” she explains. “This transnational observatory aims to bring together not only scientists, but also all the players who play an active role in the management of these species.”
According to the researcher, the aim is to have information from all the countries involved in lamprey recovery, namely their measures, results and the state of the populations.
Given the importance of lamprey for communities, another possible measure would be to suspend fishing to ensure the survival of the species.
“It's not convenient to close all the rivers completely,” argues Pedro Raposo de Almeida. What MARE's director proposes is a system of rotation, “in which a certain river closes one year, or at least remains quite restricted in that river, and the others remain open”. In this way, trade and cultural activities dependent on lamprey would be guaranteed, without compromising the survival of the species.
“From now on, and over the next ten years, we have to look at the management of this species very carefully, and substantially reduce fishing,” he concludes. “It is possible to recover, we just need patience and firm management in the way we exploit this resource.”
To watch the episode click HERE