Northern brook lamprey (Ichthyomyzon fossor) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 10

Existing Protection or Other Status Designations

The northern brook lamprey is currently listed on Schedule 3 of the Species at Risk Act as Special Concern in Canada based on a previous COSEWIC report (Lanteigne 1991). It is listed as a species of special concern in the Species at Risk in Ontario List. Wildspecies 2005 (http://www.wildspecies.ca/wildspecies2005) lists the northern brook lamprey as sensitive in Canada. Provincially, Wildspecies lists populations as sensitive in Ontario and Quebec, and ‘May be at risk’ in Manitoba. In Quebec, the advisory committee on threatened or vulnerable wildlife species recommended in June 2005 that the northern brook lamprey be listed as vulnerable.

It is currently classified as G4 (apparently secure) on a worldwide scale, N4 (apparently secure) in the United States, and N3 (vulnerable) in Canada. Provincially it is ranked as S2 (imperiled) in Manitoba, and S3 (vulnerable) in Ontario and Quebec. Within the United States, the northern brook lamprey is also currently classified as critically imperiled (S1) in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and West Virginia, imperiled (S2) in Kentucky and Ohio, vulnerable (S3) in Minnesota, and apparently secure (S4) in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin (NatureServe 2006).

The habitat of the northern brook lamprey is protected in principle under the federal Fisheries Act. In Quebec it is protected by the Loi sur la conservation et la mise en valeur de la faune (Act respecting the conservation and development of wildlife).

Page details

Date modified: