Her performance assessments for the past year were glowing, so the letter didn't make sense. “It's not a real explanation,” she said.
The redundancies of the USFWS do not affect the Sea Lamprey Control Program in Canada, McClinchey said. “The Canadian government has assured us that the money from Canada will continue to be there and that we are on our way to deliver a full program in Canadian waters,” he said. “That's great, but this program works because it's border blind.”
In other words: cuts into Lamprei control in American waters pose a threat to fish and fishermen everywhere on the big lakes.
Only a week ago the Great Lakes Fishery Commission was confronted with a more serious personnel situation, because the USFWS informed directors that they would also not be able to hire seasonal workers to spread lampricide in April. Within a few days that hiring freezing was reversed, McClinchey said.
This reversal gives him a little hope. “At least that tells us that nobody for the Lamprey root,” he said.
McClinChey is currently in DC for the A Targe Property season, presents the committee's work to members of the congress and defends the budget of the agency. It is an annual trip, but this year he is also advocating the restoration of dismissed Lamprey control employees.
He is optimistic. “It seems clear to me that it is important that we keep this program, and so far everyone we have encountered thinks that way and he works on that,” he said.
Cutting the program is not really on the table for the committee. Even small cuts at the scope would be devastating for fishing, he said.
Even the former USFWS employee of Marquette remains hopeful. “I still think they are going to scramble to make it happen,” she said. “Because it's not really an option to just stop treating for a whole season.”
This story originally appeared on Inside Climate News.
