First Lampreys Translocated in the Mondego River
Last Friday, April 4, the first lamprey translocation took place in the Mondego River. The conservation action was carried out as part of the Life4Lamprey project, in which MARE is a partner.
For several years now, there has been a significant reduction in lamprey populations in Portugal, not only in their adult and larval stages. This large decline has been attributed to various factors such as migratory barriers, over-exploitation, illegal fishing and climate change.
In order to tackle this problem, MARE has adopted several strategies: “We've already restored the habitat and we're working on fisheries regulations every year, so in order to combat this serious reduction, what we can do now is increase the number of larvae in the spawning river,” explains researcher Carlos Alexandre in an interview with ECO Advance
To this end, a new strategy began on April 4: translocating breeding adults to areas further up the Mondego River. “The aim of this translocation action is an attempt to speed up the recovery of the sea lamprey population in the River Mondego,” he explained in an interview with Notícias de Coimbra.
Carlos Alexandre stresses that "this decrease in the lamprey population is not something isolated to the River Mondego. It's something that's happening at a national level and even at a European level," and the action was carried out in this river because of its great importance for the species.
"The Mondego river basin, where we're concentrating our work, is one of the most important national and international sites for this species. It is very close to the southern limit of the species' global distribution, which makes it very important for the conservation of its populations," explains the researcher. "This species in this area is also of great economic importance. It is a gastronomic delicacy, it supports a commercial circuit that includes various stakeholders, fishermen, professional artisanal fishermen, intermediate distributors, restaurants and related gastronomic festivals, so it is very important in the study area," he concludes.
Due to its great economic, cultural and social importance, the translocations were carried out with the help of experienced local fishermen. Despite this, of the hundreds of animals that the Life4Lamprey project intends to relocate, only 30 adult lampreys could be relocated in this first action. “We hired professional fishermen to work continuously [catching lampreys for translocation], but the numbers are absolutely miserable and we never caught more than two animals a day,” said Pedro Raposo de Almeida in an interview with SIC.
According to Carlos Alexandre, the fact that the number of translocated animals is lower than expected is “a reflection of this decrease in abundance”. “We release them later in the day so that they can start migrating upstream”, “choose their spawning area” and “reproduce”, he adds.
Despite these enormous efforts, Pedro Raposo de Almeida warns that the state of lamprey populations is critical and that greater investment will be needed to recover them. "The next few years don't give us a good outlook and so serious investment has to be made through the Environmental Fund. Either we get to grips with the issue and focus on will and policies, or we'll always be running at a loss," he said.
For the time being, more translocations will be carried out during the month of April to maximize this attempt to recover the lamprey.
Photos by Pablo Martin Avidad