The Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener took place on Saturday and anglers were eagerly waiting to drop a line, hoping to reel in trout, bass, walleye and muskie. But the state’s unseasonably warm winter may have had an effect on fish hatch for some species. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240505-spring-fishing-mn
The White House has nominated Matt Kaplan to serve as the first federal co-chair of the Great Lakes Authority (GLA). The GLA was authorized by Congress in 2022 and will promote regional economic development. Read the full story by Marine Link.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240505-great-lakes-authority
The disappearance of wolves from a large island on Lake Superior means the timing is good for restoring its caribou herd. The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks says plans are underway to transport a dozen boreal caribou to Lake Superior’s Michipicoten Island. Read the full story by SN News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240505-caribou
Ohio’s environmental regulators will have until the end of June to finish a plan to aimed at combating toxic algae blooms that have flourished in Lake Erie since the late 1990s. The deadline is part of the settlement agreement a federal judge approved Thursday. Read the full story by AP News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240505-lake-erie
The Michigan Climate Action Network says it will join challenges to a permit approved last December by the Michigan Public Service Commission for Enbridge’s Line 5 tunnel project beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-line-5
The population of sea lampreys in the Great Lakes could increase significantly in the next year or two, and it’s currently unclear how quickly the population can be culled back. Read the full story by WGN-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-sea-lamprey
As each wave crashes into the edge of Township Park in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, the land continues to disintegrate. Despite emergency measures taken four years ago, more permanent action needs to be taken soon. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-lake-erie-erosion
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will partner with a University of Wisconsin research reserve to preserve the western end of popular Wisconsin Point, the Lake Superior sandbar in Superior, Wisconsin, that for centuries has played an integral role for area Anishinaabe. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-sandbar
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is considering making new rules for walleye bag limits. Exactly what the new rules will look like remains unclear. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-walleye-limit
Last week, a few satellite images snapped over the Great Lakes revealed an odd-looking spot in the middle of the southern half of Lake Michigan. The spot represents an eddy of warm water moving westward across the lake. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-satellite-spot
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources issued a first-of-its-kind order to protect a central Minnesota trout stream affected by farmers pumping groundwater to irrigate their crops. Read the full story by Minnesota Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-trout-stream
After hearing all about the 100% Fish Project that started in Iceland, the executive director of the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers started wondering if the project could help the struggling Great Lakes fishery. He took the idea home to find out. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-100-fishproject
In Ohio, a group of senior engineering students at the University of Toledo decided to tackle remediation of farm field fertilizer runoff for a final graduation project. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240429-ut-engineering
Michigan is adding $290 million in infrastructure investments to the MI Clean Water Plan. Municipal and community water systems will be eligible to apply for low-interest loans to help public water suppliers ensure safe and clean drinking water. Read the full story by WXMI-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-mi-clean-water
Twenty-two million pounds of plastic waste end up in the Great Lakes every year. About half of that waste ends up in Lake Michigan alone. Samira Hanessian, energy policy director with the Illinois Environmental Council, discusses why buying sustainable matters. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-plastic-pollution
This past winter was one of the warmest on record. It led to record-low ice coverage on all five Great Lakes, a sign that the world’s largest freshwater system is not immune to climate change. Read the full story by WLS-TV – Chicago, IL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-ice-coverage
The Ohio Department of Agriculture recently hosted a discussion around water conservation with agricultural leaders from Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan to focus on improving water quality in the Western Lake Erie Basin. Read the full story by Outdoor News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-ag-leaders-meet
Caribou are set to return to Ontario’s Michipicoten Island in Lake Superior, six years after they were airlifted to more remote islands to protect them from hungry wolves. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-caribou
Every spring, as temperatures rise, midges emerge in swarms around Milwaukee’s waterfronts. While they are harmless, residents find the sheer number of midges overwhelming. Read the full story by WISN-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-midge-flies
The owner of a barge best known for repeatedly sinking in Lake Michigan pleaded guilty to polluting Great Lakes waters in a settlement that gives him another year to move the beleaguered industrial vessel. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-barge-lawsuit
In Michigan, Muskegon County’s newest and largest park, Dune Harbor Park, opened to the public in June 2023. The property was previously used as a sand mining site, which created two inland lakes that can now be used for kayaking and fishing. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-lake-michigan-park
The city of Toledo, Ohio, and the Lucas County Board of Commissioners will join the Environmental Law & Policy Center in suing the U.S. EPA over what they believe is a “facially inadequate plan” to reduce phosphorus runoff in the Western Lake Erie Basin. Read the full story by The Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-lake-erie-lawsuit
The Biggest Week in American Birding draws a worldwide audience to glimpse dozens of species of migrating birds in northern Ohio, though officials say they’ve been seeing changes in recent years. Trends such as warmer winters, habitat loss, and low lake ice coverage may be impacting migrations. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240424-ohio-birding
The Biden administration is urging a federal appeals court to reverse a lower court order that would shut down an oil and gas pipeline crossing the Bad River tribe’s reservation within three years. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240412-line-5
Litter strewn across Great Lakes beaches is overwhelmingly composed of plastic, a new study from a region-wide beach cleanup group found, signaling a widespread problem for the wildlife and people who encounter them. Read the full story from The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240412-plastic-pollution
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is looking for input on how to make the Great Lakes region more resilient to the effects of climate change. The Corps is holding a series of virtual meetings for its Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study in collaboration with the seven Great Lakes states. Read the full story by WKSU – Kent, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240412-climate-change-virtual-meeting
In Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region, sturgeon have been on the list of protected species for a few years now. With help from several preservation groups, though, sturgeon are making a slow, steady comeback. Read the full story by Route Bay City.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240412-sturgeon
Beginning April 23, lampricides will be applied to the Conneaut Creek system in Pennsylvania’s Erie and Crawford counties to kill sea lamprey larvae before they grow into parasitic fish that migrate to Lake Erie and kill other fish. Read the full story by Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240412-lampricide
In Pennsylvania, repairs will be underway this month to Erie’s North Pier, a popular spot for sightseeing and fishing located near Presque Isle State Park. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District announced that construction will repair about 1,800 feet of damaged structure along the channel between Lake Erie and Presque Isle Bay. Read the full story by Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240412-presque-isle-pier
The University of Toledo’s Lake Erie Center hosted a training on Wednesday for local water experts to learn about the latest “smart buoys” that will be sent out into various locations in Lake Erie during the upcoming summer season. The buoys have solar-powered sensors inside them that are designed to track important water safety features such as pH and toxin levels. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240412-smart-bouy
The Lake Express Ferry embarked from its storage location in Milwaukee’s Menomonee River Valley to its operational terminal on the Lake Michigan waterfront on Wednesday, April 10. The ferry, used for daily regional transportation, transitions annually to facilitate increased travel during the warmer months and connects Milwaukee with Muskegon, Michigan. Read the full story by WDJT-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240412-lake-express-ferry
The Grand Lake region remains one of the best places in Ohio to catch a glimpse of American White Pelicans. The birds can be seen on the lake from March-May and again in late August-November as the birds head towards their migration path. Read the full story by The Daily Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240412-white-pelicans
Sitting at 26 miles long and 24 miles wide with nearly one-third of the sport fishing catch annually in the Great Lakes region, Lake St. Clair should be a household name. While not as well-known as the Great Lakes, this lake has a lot to offer. Read the full story by Great Lake Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-lake-st-clair
On World Water Day, March 22, the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Ocean Conservancy, Illinois Environmental Council, and Loyola University scientists will hold a briefing with partners at the Museum of Science and Industry to discuss protecting the Great Lakes and waterways from the environmental and health risks of microfiber pollution. Read the full story by the Ocean Conservancy.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-great-lakes-water
The Ford government is facing fresh questions over its plans to redevelop Ontario Place after new documents suggest the province considered filling in a portion of Lake Ontario to create a new development space. Read the full story by Global News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-ontario-place
As national parks around the country try to raise awareness about climate change, those around Lake Superior are taking steps to cut their emissions. The foundation and the National Park Service announced last week that the parks are starting to implement plans to get their operations off fossil fuels. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-lake-superior-parks
The hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that threatens millions of Michigan’s native hemlock trees, has been discovered near Torch Lake in western Antrim County, according to the Michigan Invasive Species Program. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-hemlock-woolly-adelgid
Wisconsin is adopting its biggest change to walleye fishing regulations since the 1940s. Starting April 1, the state’s bag limit for the prized game fish will fall from five to three walleye per angler. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-walleye-baglimit
For years, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and other tribes of the Great Lakes region have been leading a fight against the Canadian oil giant Enbridge Energy. Enbridge’s 71-year-old Line 5 oil and gas pipeline, which trespasses through sovereign tribal lands, is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-line-5
A public hearing was held on March 11 by Michigan’s Alabaster Township Board of Trustees, to learn about the Parks and Recreation Committee’s trail enhancement proposal for the Lake Huron Coastal Preserve, which is proposing an Accessibility Development Project on the shoreline that is 100% wheelchair accessible. Read the full story by Iosco County News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-lake-huron-coastal-preserve
The Soo Locks will officially open the Poe Lock to all marine traffic at 6 pm March 22nd, marking the start of the Great Lakes shipping season. Read the full story by the Keweenaw Report.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-shipping-season
An hourlong presentation about western Lake Erie was made Monday to a Washington-based policy center with ties to Congress, an online event that reminded viewers they are about three months away from battling another season of toxic algal blooms. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240320-algae-webinar
This week, the Great Lakes Commission, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and the International Joint Commission expect to sign a memorandum of understanding in Washington, D.C. The new agreement will help the organizations coordinate on things like research vessels and information-sharing, especially as climate change research increases in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-gl-commission-agreement
The latest Great Lakes Fishing Decree has taken effect, and its guidelines for certain Great Lakes fisheries in Michigan will be in place soon. The new decree includes many updates, including which areas tribal commercial fishers can use, as well as the reporting requirements for the fishing industry. Read the full story by WLNS-TV – Lansing, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-gl-fishing-decree
To keep our Great Lakes great, congressional members are pushing to extend the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The fund helps projects target the biggest threats to our Great Lakes, like invasive species, contamination and protecting native habitats. Read the full story by WICU-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-glri-extension
A congressional lawmaker and Coast Guard officials were in Green Bay Friday to advocate for the expansion of icebreaking to keep the Great Lakes region’s economy afloat. Read the full story for WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-icebreaking-expansion
In Wisconsin, Madison’s lakes officially thawed out this week, and it happened faster than almost any other time in the last 170 years. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-madison-lakes
Starting March 1, 2024, the sport fishing guide license is required in Michigan for anyone guiding on any water except the Great Lakes, Great Lakes connecting waters and bodies of water with a surface area of less than 5 acres. Read the full story by the Manistee News Advocate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-guide-fishing-license
A busy trail inside Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has been shut down through the summer season due to invasive hemlock woolly adelgid. Read the full story by WDIV-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-sleeping-bear-dunes
A study, published Monday in the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters, examined 194 lakes in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to assess changes in walleye spawning. The study has found climate change is affecting walleye’s ability to thrive by disrupting when frozen lakes thaw each year. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240304-walleye
