Canada’s Chamber of Marine Commerce is calling for changes to a proposed U.S. port fee plan, warning it could harm Canadian trade and supply chains. Read the full story by Brighton Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-us-canadian-trade
Boaters in Ohio can kick off the season with an added layer of safety, as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources offers free vessel safety checks. These inspections ensure that boats have all legally required safety gear, including life jackets, fire extinguishers, and navigation lights, before they hit the water. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-odnr-boat-safety-inspections
A sewer overflow resulted in thousands of gallons of “material” to be released in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Sunday evening into the early Monday morning hours. Read the full story by WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-kalamazoo-discharge-tenthousand-gallons
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is seeking data on the water quality of the state’s lakes, streams and rivers. Along with DNR data, submitted data will be used to assess the quality of the state’s water resources and pinpoint problem areas. Read the full story by the Tomahawk Leader.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-waterquality-lakes-streams-datasought
The Friends of Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary have announced a new program aimed at sharing the history of the Great Lakes. The First Annual Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast International Film Festival will be held at the Franciscan Center for Music Education and Performance in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on April 4. Read the full story by Seehafer News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-wisconsin-shipwreck-filmfestival-manitowoc
Great Lakes water levels fall below last year’s figures, with Lake Erie remaining near historical norms. This change follows a dry fall and increased winter evaporation. Read the full story by Planet Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-lakeerie-waterlevels-dive
There is no escape from microplastics in today’s world, and increasingly there is no escape from reports of the harm they may be causing to our environment and, possibly, to us. Microplastics and their impacts are a growing field of study. Read the full story by the Watertown Daily Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-microplastics-greatlakes-waterquality
Seven Indigenous Nations have withdrawn from discussions over an oil and gas liquids pipeline in Michigan, citing federal agencies’ failure to adequately engage with tribal governments during the process. The move is expected to trigger lawsuits the tribes hope will block the controversial Line 5 project. Read the full story by Grist.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-indigenousnations-pipelinetalks-michigan
Lake Erie is called the Walleye Capital of the World. The 2025 fishing season is set to showcase why. According to the Ohio DNR, walleye from recent large hatches are reaching trophy size. Erie anglers who are used to catching a lot of fish, can now expect to catch a lot of big fish, too. Read the full story by the Fulton Sun.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-driftwoodoutdoors-walleye-fishing-lakeerie
Arriving a day early to drop anchor and capture this year’s “first ship” award at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, is actually two vessels in one: the Clyde S. Vanenkevort/Erie Trader, an articulated tug/barge combo. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250321-soolocks-freighters-first-of-season
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and a group of six other Democratic senators representing Great Lakes states sent a letter this week to NOAA Vice Admiral Nancy Hann pressing for more information about how staff cuts at the agency will affect programs on the lakes. Read the full story by the Wisconsin Examiner.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250321-baldwin-greatlakessenators-noaacuts-letter
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed eliminating its scientific and research arm and up to 75% of its staff, leaving the future of the agency’s Duluth freshwater laboratory and its more than 100 employees uncertain. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250321-duluth-epa-lab-fundingcuts
Southwestern Ontario’s commercial fishing industry is feeling the pressure of looming U.S. tariffs expected on April 2 on all Canadian goods. That includes fish caught and processed in Ontario, a vast majority of which comes from Lake Erie and is exported south of the border. Read the full story by CBC.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250321-tariffs-ontariofisheries
The Ohio Division of Wildlife is warning anglers not to ignore state fishing limits. The agency says it recently busted 10 people for taking too many walleye during fishing trips on Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Canton Repository.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250321-ohio-overfishing-walleye
With continuing above-freezing temperatures across the region, Great Lakes ice coverage has dropped to less than 10% since reaching a high over more than 50% in February. Read the full story by the Sault Ste. Marie Evening News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250321-greatlakes-icecoverage
Dozens of people gathered at the Great Lakes Aquarium after hours on Thursday for the first event in a new series. Titled “Women in Science,” the panel series features local women with various scientific backgrounds. For the inaugural event, the focus was on studying diverse relationships with water in the Great Lakes region. Read the full story by WDIO-DT-TV – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250321-greatlakesaquarium-women-in-science-series
In Oscoda Township, Michigan, an AuSable River paddleboat that’s offered scenic tours for decades has been rescued from the water eight days after it started sinking. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250321-sunkenausable-queen
Great Lakes water levels have dropped down to their lowest point in the last decade. The levels are expected to rise during the spring thaw, but low water levels can cause shipping vessels to run aground, limit recreational access and increase erosion. Read the full story by WCMU – Mount Pleasant, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-greatlakes-waterlevels
The Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) has discovered the final resting spot for the Western Reserve, 132 years after the ship sank in Lake Superior. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-shipwreckage-lakesuperior
It’s a daily routine that has been going for more than 1,525 consecutive days, or about four years, at Toronto’s Woodbine Beach. A Toronto local started taking a plunge into Lake Ontario as a way to stay mentally and physically healthy during the pandemic, and it just stuck. Read the full story by the Toronto Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-torontowoman-coldplunge
Turn your eyes anywhere at the Port of Oswego in New York and you’ll see aluminum. The metal, in the form of ingots of various shapes and sizes, comes into the Lake Ontario port mostly on ships and railcars from Canada. Some of it gets stored in a big warehouse, but most of it is stacked outside in row after row. Read the full story by The Post-Standard.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-trumptariff-canadianaluminum
The Lake Michigan Sector of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter announced Friday that the southern waters of the bay of Green Bay will reopen to commercial vessel traffic at 8 a.m. Monday and the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw is scheduled to begin icebreaking operations in the bay that week. Read the full story by the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-greenbay-commercialshipping-icebreaking
The Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s Division of Wildlife is making sure local fishing spots are bubbling with activity as they kick off their trout stocking program this March. Starting Wednesday, March 12, a whopping 85,000 rainbow trout will be released into the wild – well, the semi-wild of 90 carefully selected fishing locations across the state. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-rainbowtrout-spring
The price of Wisconsin fishing licenses could go up by $10 if proposed increases in Governor Tony Evers’ 2025-2027 state budget are passed by the state Legislature. The budget proposal, unveiled February 18, includes a proposed increase from $20 to $30 for a resident annual fishing license. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-wisconsin-fishing-license-fees
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced that license purchasing for the 2025 Michigan Fishing License has opened. The current fishing season ends March 31, so anyone wanting to fish beyond that will need to purchase a new fishing license. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-michiganfishinglicense
Last spring, a farmer in Leelanau County, Michigan, started applying a kind of fertilizer to his fields: sewage pumped from septic tanks, often called septage. That kicked off a local fight about whether it’s legal to apply that septage waste in Centerville Township and sparked concerns about contaminating the land and water. Those concerns could come up at a meeting this week. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-leelanaucounty-sewage-farmfertilizer
Anglers don’t need telepathic skills to discern what the fish are up to as spring spawning throughout Ohio, including Lake Erie tributaries, provides good access to some prized species. Read the full story by the Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250310-fish-spawning-anglers
Two friends walked across a frozen Lake Erie to Long Point, Ontario, in February 1977. Two more men made a similar crossing that month. Three others made the trek in reverse, ending in North East, Pennsylvania, in March 1978. No one is known to have walked across the lake at Erie since — for good reason. Read the full story by Erie-Times News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-frozen-erie
Tiny Township, Ontario, is planning to enter into another year of calls for submissions for the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, with this year pertaining to framework around a shoreline alteration bylaw amendment for the township’s dynamic beaches. Read the full story by Midland Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-tinybeach-greatlakesinitiative
Like other parts of the country, the Great Lakes region is standing up and taking notice of the rapid-fire actions that the Trump Administration has been taking. The latest attention-grabber is President Trump’s decision to fast-track the controversial Line 5 pipeline. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-greatlakes-thingsmovingfast
Sea lamprey nearly destroyed fishing in the Great Lakes. The new 90-minute film, The Fish Thief: A Great Lakes Mystery, tells the story of those who tackled the mystery of why lake trout, one of the most prized fish in the Great Lakes, nearly vanished. Read the full story by The Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-thefishthief-sealamprey-impacts-greatlakes-whitefish
Ice fishing has been good this season, but anglers on the ice targeting walleye or other fish may unexpectedly find themselves with a lake sturgeon on the line. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources reminds anglers that regulations on the targeting and harvest of lake sturgeon are in effect and that on most waters of the state, fishing for lake sturgeon is prohibited and any lake sturgeon caught must be released immediately. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-sturegon-protect-ice-fishing
The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission has announced the opening of the bidding process for contractors to carry out a major restoration and maintenance project on the U.S. Brig Niagara. The historic vessel, housed in Erie, Pennsylvania, and best known for its pivotal role in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812, is preparing for its second shipyard visit in recent years. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-phmc-brig-niagara-shipyard
The city of Lockport, Illinois, reiterated its commitment to staying on its well water system, even as neighboring Illinois cities Joliet, Romeoville and Crest Hill take steps towards a transition to Lake Michigan water. Read the full story by the Shaw Local.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-lockport-well-water-system
The Trump administration’s purge of federal workers at an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) office in Chicago included a half dozen attorneys who bring enforcement cases against polluters and staff who mobilize rapidly to respond to hazardous spills and environmental disasters. The cuts may inhibit the EPA’s ability to protect drinking water, safeguard air quality and clean up toxic sites in Michigan, part of a five-state region headquartered in Illinois. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-trump-epa-workers
With the weather outside frigid, a fishing enthusiast wouldn’t necessarily be thinking about the walleye run just yet unless you’re the proprietor of Maumee Tackle — Fishing, Kayak, and Shooting Outfitters in Maumee, Ohio. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-fishermen-ice-walleyerun-soon
The Winnebago, Wisconsin, sturgeon spearing season was closed with bang when two more fish were harvested weighing in at over 100 pounds each. Read the full story by WTMJ-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250224-sturgeonspearing-sunday
The oldest known Great Lakes piping plover was recently spotted at her favorite wintering grounds on the Atlantic shore in Georgia. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-oldest-pipingplover-basks-southernsunshine
As expected, companion legislation aimed at reauthorizing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was reintroduced into the U.S. Senate this week. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-greatlakes-reauth-bill-senate
Minnesota is giving its water quality standards a fresh look. With public input in their hands, officials are under pressure to add language about nitrate levels, a move some said is long overdue. Read the full story by Public News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-minnesota-nitratestandards
Winter surfing in Sheboygan, Michigan, sometimes called the Malibu of the Midwest, is unique in that it’s not as particular about which way the wind blows. The Great Lakes surf season peaks in fall and winter when the wind creates some of the biggest waves of the year. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-wintersurfers-embrace-cold
The Port Authority recently began requesting proposals from entrepreneurs/individuals interested in both operating the bayfront landmark and bringing new business/activity — such as a retail shop or a restaurant — to the iconic waterfront landmark and its surrounding area. Read the full story by Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-bicentennialtower-erie-portauthority
A recent study has found dozens of previously unknown “forever chemicals” in the fish, mussels and waters of Lake Huron, revealing more contamination than previously realized. Now researchers are scrambling to understand the health and environmental effects of these chemicals. Read the full story by Capital News Service.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-researchers-chemicals-pfas-greatlakes-fish
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said it stocked the state with more than 46 million fish in Ohio’s lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. That’s 6 million more than what was stocked in 2023. Read the full story by Spectrum News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-ohio-restockedwaterways-fish-2024
Eight new H2Ohio wetland grants totaling $7.7 million were announced by the DeWine administration Tuesday. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-northwest-ohio-h2ohio-wetlandprojects
The Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie are a critical piece to the ever-important Great Lakes shipping industry. Each year, from late March through mid-January of the next year, hundreds of ships go through Lakes Superior and Huron, up and the St. Mary’s River transporting tens of millions of tons of cargo. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-ships-soolocks-2024
In December, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the first construction contract had been awarded for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River near Joliet, Illinois. The work includes installing underwater defenses to keep invasive carp from getting into the Great Lakes. However, the first phase of the project has now been postponed due to the “anticipated lack of federal funding” under the Trump administration. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250212-funding-uncertainty-greatlakes-invasivecarp-trump
Canada and the U.S. are being asked by the science advisory board for the International Joint Commission to designate microplastics as a chemical of mutual concern under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Read the full story by The Detroit News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250205-us-canada-greatlakes-microplasticpollution-takeaction
An increasing goose population within cities and suburban areas is raising concerns about the effects of their poop entering waterways. Goose poop contains high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which in large quantities cause eutrophication, or the growth of algal blooms in water bodies. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250205-moregoosepoop-moreproblems
Ashland County is set to host an event focusing on the retailer’s role in implementing H2Ohio’s nutrient management plans. Read the full story by the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250205-conservationchat-h2ohio
