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Tool studies effect of dams on lampreys

LANSING, MI (AP)--   A newly developed online tool is designed to shed light on how removing dams on rivers in the Great Lakes region would affect the invasive sea lamprey. 

Sea lampreys are eel-like predators that attack other fish. They devastated lake trout and other prized species after reaching the Great Lakes through shipping canals in the last century.

Dams have blocked the lamprey's path on some rivers and streams. But many of the structures are crumbling with age, and removing dams to allow free flow of waterways is increasingly popular.

The online tool was developed by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the Great Lakes Commission. It provides information that can help policymakers, researchers and others to see how removing particular barriers or adding new ones would affect the lamprey control effort.