Efforts to limit population of invasive ‘vampire fish' in Canada's Great Lakes underway
The spike in sea lampreys has triggered a joint campaign between Canada and the U.S. to protect the region's $5.1-billion freshwater fishery.
The work began in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and will likely continue till October. Some of the population control methods include lampricides (a chemical treatment), traps and barriers.
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Sea lampreys, also known as vampire fish, were accidentally introduced through shipping canals into the Great Lakes in 1921. They use their mouths with 150 teeth and serrated tongues to attach to prey, killing up to 40 pounds of fish during their parasitic stage.
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Before sea lamprey control, the species killed far more fish than humans did, causing considerable economic and ecological damage.
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The mouth of a Sea Lamprey features 150 teeth and a tongue that is cerated. Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images
A new study confirms that lamprey numbers rose sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions in 2020 and 2021 forced crews to pause treatments and millions of lamprey larvae survived as a result.
Ethan Baker, chair of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, said the rise was expected.
'Ongoing, consistent sea lamprey control is critically important for preventing damage to Great Lakes fish by invasive sea lampreys,' Baker said in an April 10 news release.
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'Research shows that sea lamprey control must continue each year to keep populations of this harmful invasive species in check.'
In 2024, adult sea lamprey counts were 8,619 above pre-COVID-19 averages. Lake Superior and Lake Ontario saw the biggest increases. Numbers in lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie are starting to stabilize.
'If we take our foot off the gas, even for a short while, sea lamprey populations will increase rapidly and cause considerable damage to fish,' Baker said.
Control efforts have since resumed, but scientists and officials warn that the damage done during the pause will take years to reverse.
'Sea lamprey control is critical to safeguard the prosperity of the region,' Baker said.
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Global News
8 hours ago
- Global News
Ceremony held for RCAF pilot killed in Cape Breton crash while training in 1944
According to his Royal Canadian Air Force service records, 21-year-old Pilot Officer Bill Bennet was a fine airman. Described as tall and wiry, his commanding officer noted in March 1944 that the Montreal man was also 'enthusiastic and intelligent.' And as the Second World War in Europe entered its final phase that summer, Bennet was made a staff pilot at the RCAF station in Summerside, P.E.I., where he started training to fly reconnaissance aircraft or bombers. On Aug. 6, 1944, Bennet was tasked with flying a twin-engine Avro Anson V training aircraft carrying two navigators and one radio operator. Their routine mission that Sunday was to fly east from Summerside to a point over the Gulf of St. Lawrence north of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia and then return. But something went wrong over the water. The aircraft was well south of where it should have been. And as it entered a thick bank of fog, Bennett began a descent that he hoped would bring the plane below the haze. Story continues below advertisement Instead of emerging above the vast gulf, the aircraft suddenly plowed through a stand of small trees. Its wings, tail and one engine were torn off as it slammed into the side of Jerome Mountain on the western edge of Cape Breton Highlands National Park. Bennet was badly injured, having suffered a fractured skull. Incredibly, the other three men had only minor wounds. Given the steep, rough terrain, it wasn't until the next afternoon that a search party reached the remote crash site northeast of the Acadian village of Cheticamp, N.S. The searchers were told Bennet had died during the night. 2:26 RCAF celebrates 100 years in the sky The three survivors — 20-year-old navigator John Robert Ogilvie and 22-year-old navigator William John Astle, both of Edmonton, and 22-year-old communications officer Jack Roy Burke of Wallaceburg, Ont. — managed to hike down the mountain by late Monday. But it would take another day before Bennet's body could be recovered. Story continues below advertisement Jeff Noakes, Second World War historian at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, said an RCAF inquiry later found the plane's compass wasn't working properly. As well, he said investigators determined the navigators and the pilot weren't communicating as well as they should have been. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'The RCAF ultimately concluded that they weren't 100 per cent sure why there was an error in the navigation,' Noakes said in an interview. On Saturday, more than 80 years after the crash, a non-profit group based in Cheticamp — Les Amis du Plein Air — held a public ceremony to unveil two commemorative panels at a campsite in the shadow of the mountain. Among those in the crowd of about 50 people was one of Bennet's nephews, 63-year-old Bill Bennet of Ottawa, who was named after his late uncle. He said it was important for him and his two children, Liam and Nora, to travel to Cape Breton to be part of the unveiling. 'My son is 21,' Bill Bennet said, his voice cracking with emotion as he recalled his uncle was the same age when he died. 'I want to make them aware of our family's connection to the war and what that means. It's also a chance to connect with the people of Cheticamp … about the efforts (their ancestors) made to rescue these men in this very rugged terrain …. I think of the sacrifice of my uncle, but there are so many more people involved in this whole story.' Story continues below advertisement 2:52 Remembering the Canadian general who helped secure Dutch freedom during WWII Bill Bennet's 65-year-old brother Doug, who travelled from Toronto with his wife Nancy and their children Nathan and Eliza, said his uncle's tragic story illustrates the sacrifices made by those who took part in the British Commonwealth Air Training Program, often described as among Canada's most important contributions to the war effort. By the end of the war, the program had graduated more than 131,000 pilots, observers, flight engineers and other aircrew for the air forces of Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. More than half joined the RCAF. It was often dangerous work. In all, 856 trainees were killed, though some sources suggest the number is much higher. 'It was a huge cost,' Doug Bennet said before the ceremony began. 'And they were almost all in their late teens and early 20s.' Story continues below advertisement Erin Gregory, curator at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, said most Canadians are more familiar with the sacrifices made overseas during the Second World War. 'It's important to mark this moment of service and sacrifice at home, which is at least as important as what happened overseas,' Gregory said. 'As part of the war effort, it was extremely important and it was dangerous.'
Toronto Sun
13 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
A half-million young Catholics invade Rome, awaiting Pope Leo XIV at Holy Year youth festival
Published Aug 02, 2025 • 4 minute read Youth and pilgrims gather in Rome's eastern Tor Vergata neighbourhood for a prayer vigil led by the Pope before Sunday's Mass as part of the Jubilee of Youth, on Aug. 2, 2025. Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE / AFP via Getty Images ROME — Hundreds of thousands of young Catholics poured into a vast field on Rome's outskirts Saturday for the weekend highlight of the Vatican's 2025 Holy Year: an evening vigil, outdoor slumber party and morning Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV that marks his first big encounter with the next generation of Catholics. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Misting trucks and water cannons spritzed the young people to try to keep them cool, as temperatures neared 30C (85F) with hours to go before Leo arrived for the vigil. But the mood was festive, with young people dancing to a lineup of a dozen different bands or lying on their tarps where they had set up camp for the night. 'It is something spiritual, that you can experience only every 25 years,' said Francisco Michel, a pilgrim from Mexico. 'As a young person, having the chance to live this meting with the pope I feel it is a spiritual growth.' For the past week, these bands of young Catholics from around the world have invaded Rome for their special Jubilee celebration, in this Holy Year in which 32 million people are expected to descend on the Vatican to participate in a centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The young people have been traipsing through cobblestoned streets in color-coordinated t-shirts, praying the Rosary and singing hymns with guitars, bongo drums and tambourines shimmying alongside. Using their flags as tarps to shield them from the sun, they have taken over entire piazzas for Christian rock concerts and inspirational talks, and stood for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to 1,000 priests offering the sacrament in a dozen different languages. On Saturday, they began arriving at the Tor Vergata field on the eastern flank of Rome for the culmination of their Jubilee celebration — the encounter with Leo. History's first first American pope was flying in by helicopter Saturday evening to preside over the vigil. He was then returning to the Vatican for the night and coming back for a popemobile romp and Mass on Sunday morning. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It all has the vibe of a World Youth Day, the Catholic Woodstock festival that St. John Paul II inaugurated and made famous in 2000 in Rome at the very same Tor Vergata field. Then, before an estimated 2 million people, John Paul told the young pilgrims they were the 'sentinels of the morning' at the dawn of the third millennium. Officials had initially expected 500,000 youngsters this weekend, but Leo hinted the number might reach 1 million. 'It's a bit messed up, but this is what is nice about the Jubilee,' said Chloe Jobbour, a 19-year-old Lebanese Catholic who was in Rome with a group of more than 200 young members of the Community of the Beatitudes, a France-based charismatic group. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She said, for example, it had taken two hours to get dinner Friday night, as the KFC was overwhelmed by orders. The Salesian school that offered her group housing is an hour away by bus. But Jobbour, like many here this week, didn't mind the discomfort: It's all part of the experience. 'I don't expect it to be better than that. I expected it this way,' she said, as members of her group gathered on church steps near the Vatican to sing and pray Saturday morning before heading out to Tor Vergata. There was one tragedy before the vigil began: The Vatican confirmed that an Egyptian 18-year-old, identified as Pascale Rafic, had died while on the pilgrimage. Leo met Saturday with the group she was traveling with and extended his condolences to her family. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The weather has largely cooperated: While Italian civil protection crews had prepared for temperatures that could have reached 34C (93F) or higher this week, the mercury hasn't surpassed 30C (85F) and isn't expected to. Romans inconvenienced, but tolerant Those Romans who didn't flee the onslaught have been inconvenienced by the additional hordes on the city's notoriously insufficient public transport system. Residents are sharing social media posts of outbursts by Romans at kids flooding subway platforms and crowding bus stops that have complicated their commutes to work. But other Romans have welcomed the enthusiasm the youngsters have brought. Premier Giorgia Meloni offered a video welcome, marveling at the 'extraordinary festival of faith, joy and hope' that the young people had created. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I think it's marvelous,' said Rome hairdresser Rina Verdone, who lives near the Tor Vergata field and woke up Saturday to find a gaggle of police congregating outside her home as part of the massive, 4,000-strong operation mounted to keep the peace. 'You think the faith, the religion is in difficulty, but this is proof that it's not so.' Verdone had already made plans to take an alternate route home Saturday afternoon, that would require an extra kilometre (half-mile) walk, because she feared the 'invasion' of kids in her neighbourhood would disrupt her usual bus route. But she said she was more than happy to make the sacrifice. 'You think of invasion as something negative. But this is a positive invasion,' she said. — AP reporter Paolo Santalucia contributed to this story. Toronto Blue Jays Columnists Columnists Toronto & GTA Canada
Winnipeg Free Press
16 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg libraries take huge hit from lost, unreturned items
Perched on the stone ledge outside the Millennium Library, a lifelong reader settles into his next book. John, 71, has loved the library as long as he can remember, having popped in once a week for years. On Friday, he checked out a backpack's worth of hardcover sci-fi and fantasy novels. Even he has, at least once, been fined for losing a library book. 'I tried to replace it, and they wouldn't take it, they wanted the one that I took out,' he joked. MALAK ABAS / FREE PRESS John, 71, loves a good book. He's taken out hundreds from the library, and admits he's lost at least one. He's not the only one. Records released under FIPPA show the cost of Winnipeg Public Library material marked 'lost' or 'not returned' increased exponentially from 2020 to 2024. The lowest-cost loss in those years was in 2021, when the library lost $77,519 worth of material. In 2024, the most recent data available, city libraries had their highest yearly loss, $212,832. The amount doesn't include material that has been removed due to wear and tear. When told about the dollar amounts, John shrugs. The library could do more to prevent losses, he said, but he guesses that the numbers reflect more and more people enjoying the library, as the cost to buy books gets higher. 'I make sure I return books in good condition. I mean, I like books, and I think the library's a great place,' said John, who didn't want to give his surname. 'If there wasn't the library, a lot of people wouldn't be reading. It's so expensive to buy a book at the drug store or something.' Provincial data show Winnipeg Public Library branches have nearly 900,000 print items, 43,337 audio items, and 43,606 video items, along with a number of digital, serial and miscellaneous material. The operating expenditures for physical material was $1.66 million in 2024. Pam McKenzie, a communications officer with the City of Winnipeg, said a number of changes in the past five years that could be responsible for the increase in lost and not returned items: closures due to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, the post-pandemic spike in borrowed material, the removal of fines for late returns as of Jan. 1, 2021 (although charges are imposed for lost or damaged items). Some libraries have expanded hours over the past five years and inflation has resulted in library items being more costly. While most Winnipeg library items are returned on time, the items most often not returned are adult non-fiction book, DVDs, and video games. 'Providing access to material and information are core library services,' McKenzie said in a statement. 'We encourage all customers to return their items so they can be enjoyed by others.' If an item is overdue by 21 days, its cost is charged to the cardholder, and the charge is removed once they return it. If a reader owes $50 or more, or if they have 10 or more overdue items, their card is suspended. Depending on the situation, the account could be sent to a collections agency. At the South Central Regional Library, which includes rural branches in Altona, Manitou, Miami, Morden, and Winkler, fines for late materials still exist. They send out automatic billing notices when a book is late, but will refund the cost if it's returned within three months. It's relatively rare for a book not to make it back after that, said SCRL director Cathy Ching. 'It has definitely dropped the amount of payments we have received on lost books, because people want their money back,' she said. 'When you have to pay full price for a hardcover book, it makes you look a little harder.' Fines total $20,000 a year for the seven libraries, Ching said, which is spent on programs. The SCRL faced threats of defunding over books about sex and gender education in their libraries in 2023. Ching said some cardholders would take out controversial books and refuse to return them during that time, choosing to pay the fine instead in hopes of permanently removing it from their collection, but library staff would use the funds to purchase the book again. One book for young adults, Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverburg, was taken and re-purchased multiple times. Another recent rash of missing library books had a common theme — they were all paperbacks with relatively steamy front covers. Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. 'It really is a matter of trust to go to the counter with whatever you want to read and put it there,' Ching said with a laugh. The SCRL has one of the highest ratio of population to active users in Manitoba. Just over 70 per cent of their collective population of 46,665 people uses the library. Ching said all libraries, in Winnipeg or otherwise, share a sense of pride in maintaining their collections. 'It doesn't matter the size of your library, you're proud of what you offer people, and you want to be able to offer the best services you can with the budget you have,' she said. '(It) doesn't matter if your budget's large or small, it's ownership. You look after your collection like your children, sometimes.' Malak AbasReporter Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak. Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. 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