TRAVERSE CITY (AP) -- The agency that controls parasitic sea lampreys in the Great Lakes says federal budget cuts could undo years of progress.
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission works to reduce the number of lampreys, eel-like creatures that invaded the lakes from the Atlantic Ocean through shipping canals.
They kill other fish by sucking their blood. They nearly wiped out lake trout decades ago.
Commission spokesman Marc Gaden says lamprey numbers have fallen about 90% through measures such as trapping, sterilization and treating streams where they spawn with a chemical that kills their larvae.
Gaden says some in Congress have proposed cutting the program by 20% this year, while the Obama administration's budget for 2012 calls for a 15% cut.
He says if that happens, lamprey numbers will jump.
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