probably be greater than the value of the material separated. 

 We recognize that a sample based upon only six individuals may 

 not be representative. However, even if the analyses had been 

 ten tines higher, the material would still be of doubtful value. 

 It therefore seems unlilcely that the sea lamprey •'.Till ever be a 

 commercial source of Vitamin A. The only possibility would be 

 to use the lamprey for reduction purposes. The oil thus obtained 

 might be of a high enough potency to \Tarrant its sale for its 

 Vitamin A content . " 



The greatest obstacle to developing any of the proposed or 

 tested uses of spasming run sea lampreys would be the excessive 

 cost of each pound of lamprey flesh produced. It has been demon- 

 strated that even large r\ans (in numbers) constitute a relatively 

 small poundage of lamprey flesh. The sea lamprey run in the 

 Ocqueoc River, estimated at 10,000 individuals in 19H7, would 

 have a total weight of li,062 pounds. This weight would produce 

 approximately 1,000 pounds of meal and 63 pounds of oil. To pro- 

 duce this number of pounds would require the operation of a weir 

 and trap that ivould capture all migrants. Such a trap would have 

 to be built according to certain minimum requirements in order 

 to be efficient and be in operation for three and one-half months 

 with a seasonal average of three salaried employees in continual 

 attendance. At present wage levels and costs of construction of 

 such traps, the cost of production per pound would obviousl^^ be 

 out of all proportion to the profit that might be derived from 

 the products. For example, had the trap been run in 19U8 the 

 estimated cost for labor and weir maintenance vrould have been 

 about $1.00 per pound of whole lampreys. If the cost of weir and 

 trap construction and development were distributed over a ten- 

 year period and added in, the cost per pound of produced avhole 

 lajnpreys would be raised to about $1.U0. Each pound of whole larii- 

 preys would produce one-quarter pound of meal and/or 7.6 grams 

 of oil. The costs indicated are those "at the pier". Additional 

 expenditures must be met for handling, transportation, processing, 

 and marketing. 



In spite of these data, it is suggested that whole, frozen 

 ' sea lampreys be tested as supplementary rations for fish hatcher- 

 ies and animal farms. Such sales (or consignments vfithin an 

 organization) and sales as biological specimens may in some small 

 measijire reimburse the agencies expending funds for sea lamprey 

 contrcl. 



The picture painted by the preceding comments is quite dis- 

 couraging. It is not intended to be so. It is merely an evalua- 

 tion based on present Imown facts and figures relative to spavin- 

 ing nonSj and the economic feasibility of the utilization of ssa 

 lampreys in the major categories of uses noted. 



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