A new designation, if approved, will provide “special protection in perpetuity” to Indiana’s Lake Michigan shipwrecks by designating them as “submerged land preserves.” Read the full story by Northwest Indiana Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250418-indiana-lake-michigan-shipwrecks
The Minnesota Department of Health has updated its advice on how much fish is safe to eat from certain lakes with so-called “forever chemicals.” The changes to the fish consumption guidelines affect about 44 water bodies in 10 counties, in both the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. Read the full story by MPR News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250418-health-dept-minnesota
Fed by creeks and springs that gurgle from the dolomite bedrock underlying the peninsula, three hidden, undeveloped lakes – Dunes, Arbiter and Schwartz – lie in the silhouette of these shivering sands. Nestled within a mile of the cliffs, caves and forested dunes of Lake Michigan, the lakes were choked by phosphorus-rich blankets of algae – victims of fortified agricultural, sanitary and septic system runoff. Read the full story by Door County Pulse.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250418-algae-to-clarity
A new study has found that climate change is erasing a fundamental annual phenomenon in Lakes Michigan and Huron, with potentially serious consequences for life in the water. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-lakemichigan-lakehuron-climatechange
A large drop in the water levels in the Great Lakes is making it more challenging for people to launch their boats in Lake Huron and navigate shallower water. Some harbors in Northeast Michigan, like the one in Harrisville, have a depth of only about 12 feet, which is enough to accommodate most power boats, but concern is rising that if water levels continue to fall, launching a boat could become a serious issue. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-waterlevels-greatlakes
A small-ship cruise operator is about to make a comeback in the U.S. Victory Cruise Lines is relaunching this month with Great Lakes and Canada cruises. American Queen Voyages’ founder John Waggoner is reviving the brand with two 190-passenger ships, Victory I and Victory II. Read the full story by USA Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-greatlakescruises-victorycruiseline
Following a drier-than-average fall, tourism industry observers are heading into spring with one eye on the sky, hoping that a strong wet season will replenish below-average Great Lakes levels for smooth sailing this season. Read the full story by Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-michigan-marinas-lower-water-levels
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is working to rehabilitate the lake sturgeon population into a self-sustaining future in the Milwaukee River. Read the full story by The Post-Crescent.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-sturgeon-milwaukeeriver
When raindrops fall in Northeast Ohio, they begin a journey — one shaped by millions of years of geological history and guided by invisible boundaries in the land. Some of that water will eventually make its way north to Lake Erie, while other droplets will flow south toward the Ohio River, and ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. The deciding factor? A subtle but significant line called a watershed divide. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-northeastohio-lakeerie-ohioriver
Since the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s lamprey program launched, sea lamprey populations have declined by about 90 percent, restoring commercial and sport fishing across the Great Lakes. However, experts say that work was imperiled by February’s U.S. federal staffing cuts. Read the full story by OrilliaMatters.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-greatlakes-sealamprey-dogecuts
The Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven, Michigan, will host a presentation this month on efforts to preserve a World War II Tuskegee airplane that crashed into Lake Huron in 1944. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-maritimemuseum-southhaven-worldwar2
Approximately 4,250 adult trout were stocked by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the Huron River at the Proud Lake Recreation Area in Oakland County and the Spring Mill Pond at the Island Lake Recreation Area in Livingston County, Michigan. The fish are retired broodstock from Michigan’s state fish hatcheries. Read the full story by WHMI – Howell, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-fish-stocked-huronriver-springmillpond
The Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary encompasses 1,722 square miles of eastern Lake Ontario waters and bottomlands adjacent to Jefferson, Wayne, Oswego and Cayuga counties in the state of New York. The sanctuary area contains 41 known shipwrecks and one aircraft representing events spanning more than 200 years. The advisory council will meet for the first time later this month, a crucial step in the build-out of the newly designated sanctuary. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250407-noaa-advisorycouncilmeeting-marinesanctuary
On June 9, 1909, a mechanical failure at Canada’s Soo Locks led to the sinking of two ships, halting Great Lakes commercial traffic. This disaster exposed infrastructure vulnerabilities, prompting modernization efforts and highlighting potential economic repercussions from similar incidents today. Read the full story by Thumbwind.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20250331-1909-soolocksdiaster
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
