POTTER VALLEY, Mendocino County — This year’s historic gush of water through California’s rivers brings the dawning of a renaissance for lampreys, a peculiar fish that migrates upstream to spawn but without the fanfare of its salmon and steelhead compatriots. On a recent afternoon in wooded hills some 150 miles north of San Francisco, dozens … Read more
While South Fork of the Lamprey River does not roll off the tongue with same ease as South Fork of the Eel, it would be a more accurate name for our local waterway, especially this year when it is enjoying an abundance related to the high pre-drought water flows of a few years back. Older … Read more
During a site visit to the Potter Valley Project Friends of the Eel River staff observed lamprey attempting and mostly failing to climb the fish ladder at the Van Arsdale fish counting station. Pacific Lamprey, the fish for which the Eel River was “mis-named” are anadromous just like salmon, meaning they migrate between freshwater and … Read more
In the heavily dammed Columbia River Basin, millions have been spent on life support systems for Pacific Salmon. Yet, the little-known Pacific Lamprey has slipped through the cracks of conservation efforts
In the world of migratory fish, the plight of the salmon dominates the public’s attention and the research and recovery budgets of both federal and state wildlife agencies working in Southwest Washington.
Pacific Lamprey spawning in Eel River below Tomki Creek, April 18 2015. Footage by Dustin Revel. Pacific Lamprey are the fish for which the Eel River was “mis-named”. Thought by white settlers to resemble Atlantic eels, lamprey actually lack the jaws and paired fins that distinguish other fish. They also have round sucker-like mouths, no … Read more