GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Federal funding is expected to help with the construction of a proposed river barrier aimed at controlling sea lamprey access into a western Michigan waterway.
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission expects a $7 million increase to its annual budget that would help pay for the barrier in the Grand River.
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The barrier is part of a Grand River restoration project and would deny sea lampreys access to more than 1,900 miles (3,058 kilometers) of new stream habitat.
The adjustable hydraulic structure would be upstream of a dam that currently serves as a barrier to the eel-like parasites that attack fish such as trout, salmon and whitefish. They invaded the Great Lakes in the last century and decimated native fish until a poison was developed that brought them under control.