Live lamprey can reach a market value of over $25 per lb.If Portugal has its way, we'll be selling any Great Lakes sea lamprey we don't want to Portuguese fish markets, as table fare for the rich if not so famous.
The Great Lakes Protection Fund recently awarded Minnesota Sea Grant some funding for a two-year study onthe overseas market potential for our sea lamprey. It seems the lamprey is aculinary delicacy in parts of Europe,especially Portugal and Spain. Live lamprey can reach a market value of over $25 per lb. there, and although smaller than their local lamprey, the Portuguese have expressed an interest inour Great Lakes lamprey.
"Harvest of Great Lakes lamprey for human consumption has been speculated upon for over 30 years," said Jeff Gunderson, project leader for Minnesota Sea Grant . "It's time to seriously address this question."
Should the study prove successful,maybe we can allocate quotas to deserving commercial fishing companies, or better yet we can begin an aquaculture program and raise evenmore, through the Great Lakes Fishery Commission
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