GLIN==> Great Lakes Fishery Commission Celebrates 50 Years of Sea Lamprey Control and Bi-National Cooperation

["List Manager" <adminpst@great-lakes.net>]

For Immediate Release: June 7, 2005

Contact: Marc Gaden, 734-662-3209 x. 14, 734-417-8012 (cell)

Press Release: www.glfc.org/50th/release.pdf

Timeline: www.glfc.org/50th/timeline50th.pdf

Great Lakes Fishery Commission Celebrates 50 Years of

Sea Lamprey Control and Bi-National Cooperation

ANN ARBOR, MI-The Great Lakes Fishery Commission will celebrate its 50th 
anniversary in

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, June 8th, 2005. This anniversary marks fifty 
years of sea lamprey

control on the Great Lakes and celebrates the remarkable recovery of a 
fishery once thought

destroyed by this invasive pest. This anniversary also honors fifty years of 
Canadian and U.S.

cooperation on fisheries research and coordinated management of shared fish 
stocks.

The Great Lakes Fishery Commission is an international organization 
established by the

United States and Canada through the Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries. 
The convention

was negotiated and approved in 1954 and went into effect in 1955. The 
commission has the

responsibility to coordinate fisheries research, control sea lampreys, and 
facilitate cross-border

fisheries management.

"This anniversary is a celebration of Great Lakes recovery and stewardship," 
said Gerry

Barnhart, Chair of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. "We have come a long 
way since the

convention went into effect in 1955. Fifty years ago sea lampreys were out 
of control and had

devastated the Great Lakes fishery. Today sea lamprey populations have been 
reduced by 90%,

allowing for the recovery of fish populations. Fifty years ago the U.S. and 
Canada, and the

states, the provinces, and the tribes, had no formal mechanism to cooperate 
on Great Lakes

fishery management. Today, consultation and coordination are the norm."

"The Great Lakes Fishery Commission has made enormous contributions to 
fishery

science," added Peter Wallace, Vice Chair of the Great Lakes Fishery 
Commission. "We are

proud of the scientific publication series which the Great Lakes Fishery 
Commission started

nearly fifty years ago, and the numerous international symposia we have 
sponsored to advance

our understanding of freshwater fisheries."

"Equally important is the change in mindset during the past fifty years." 
Wallace

concluded. "Great Lakes fishery management has gone from a 
jurisdictional-based approach

prior to the convention, to a broader, ecology-based approach that prevails 
today. The

commission is proud of the supporting role it plays in helping the 
jurisdictions share data,

developing common objectives, and coordinating their fisheries management 
activities."

The commission's 50th anniversary annual meeting will be held June 8th at 
the Queen's

Landing Inn, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. The Honorable Shawn Murphy, 
Parliamentary

Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans; Honorable David Ramsay, 
Ontario Minister of

Natural Resources; Mr. John Turner, Assistant Secretary of State; and Mr. 
Paul Steckle, MP; are

among the dignitaries who will make presentations. Other presentations will 
be from fishery

managers and academicians past and present - who have been active in the 
commission's

program.

. A timeline (attached) of notable Great Lakes Fishery Commission events and 
activities

is online at: www.glfc.org/50th/timeline50th.pdf

. Information about the annual meeting and the agenda are at:

www.glfc.org/50th/

. More information about the commission is available by visiting the website 
at:

www.glfc.org

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