Pacific lamprey found in Santa Margarita River, for the first time in decades

John Heil

Special to the Village News

"They will recolonize, if we pave the way for them," said Damon Goodman, former biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Arcata office who is now a regional director in Northern California for CalTrout. If this sounds similar to the famous quote from "Field of Dreams": "if you build it, they will come," it is. And it is exactly what happened with Pacific lamprey recolonizing in the Santa Margarita River in Southern California.

Found in the river in August 2019 for the first time since last documented in 1940, this is now the furthest south the s...