INTRODUCTION:   My co-investigators – Jean Tsao, Eli Fenichel, and Graham Hickling – and I recently received a grant from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to apply the method of Real Options Analysis (ROA) to the management of the St. Marys River sea lamprey sterile male release program. Real options analysis is a technique to inform decision making that is closely related to decision analysis.

In an earlier report (see: http://www.glfc.org/research/reports/Fenichel.html) we recommended ROA as a tool to formally assess this fish translocation program. We subsequently received funds from the Sea Lamprey Research Program to implement this recommendation.  This short preliminary workshop helped us better understand goals for the Lake Huron fishery and the tradeoffs that are perceived regarding sea lamprey control and specifically acquisition of fish from Lake Ontario. 

Michael Jones, April 2008