SENECA LAKE, N.Y. (WETM) — People who live near Seneca Lake are being warned not to use river or lake water in early June while tributaries are being treated for parasitic sea lamprey.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that it will be conducting lampricide treatments in Seneca Lake tributaries in Chemung, Schuyler, and Yates counties. The treatments will help protect the fish in these waters from parasitic sea lamprey. The DEC will start the lampricide application on June 4 in Catherine Creek downstream of Stafford Road in Chemung and Schuyler counties and on June 6 in the Keuka Lake Outlet downstream of Cascade Mills in Yates County. These dates could change depending on the weather.

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The New York State Department of Health (DOH) advises people not to use treated water for a few days after the lampricide is applied as a precaution. River water should not be used for drinking, household purposes, fishing, swimming, irrigation, or watering livestock for one to two days after the treatment. Lake water should not be used for drinking or watering livestock for one to three days after the treatment, but it can be used for other household purposes. Signs will be posted in treated areas and removed when the advisories are lifted.

According to the DEC, immature sea lamprey live in streams for about three to four years before they become parasitic predators to fish. The DEC has been using lampricide (TFM, 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol) since 1982 to prevent immature sea lamprey from reaching adulthood and becoming a problem for fish like Atlantic salmon and lake trout. The DEC conducts lampricide treatments every three to four years.

The DEC says that TFM is a selective pesticide that has been used extensively in the Great Lakes for sea lamprey control. The dosage of TFM it will use will not have a significant impact on non-target organisms or the environment. However, some minor fish and aquatic invertebrates could die, and signs of this would be visible.

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