Fisheries and Oceans Canada has launched its 2026 field season to manage invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes, aiming to protect native fish populations and support the ecosystem’s overall health. Read the full story by Sydenham Current.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260724-dfo-lamprey
State officials announced the selection of five projects that will receive funding through the Michigan Mobility Funding Platform’s Michigan Maritime Innovation Grant Program. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260724-blue-tech-maritime
A science teacher at The Pathfinder School was one of two Michigan teachers selected for a week-long trip aboard the Environmental Protection Agency’s largest research vessel traveling across Lake Superior. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260724-traversecity-teacher-research
Keeping Lake Erie as pristine as possible was on the minds of 7,000 Ohioans who spoke up to stop a blanket permit for data centers to dump their wastewater in the lake. It worked and the permit has been withdrawn. Read the full story by the Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260724-ohio-data-center
The annual Coast Guard festival in Grand Haven, Michigan hosts is 100th year with new attractions, live music, and more. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260724-coastguard-festival
A cold-water upwelling has occurred along the nearshore area of Lake Michigan, plunging water temperatures nearly 20 degrees colder from what they had been a day or two ago. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260724-michigan-beach-temps
A stretch of water main that has broken four times in seven years, leaving Michigan drivers stranded and disrupting service across whole neighborhoods, is finally getting a full overhaul. The Great Lakes Water Authority has announced a $81 million, two phase project to rebuild and reinforce six miles of pipe along 14 Mile Road in Oakland County. Read the full story by Smart Water Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260724-glwa-corridor-fix
The Great Lakes Science Center is celebrating a major milestone as the downtown Cleveland landmark turns 30 years old. Read the full story by WKYC-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260724-sciencecenter-30years
After receiving more than 7,000 public comments, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency will not create a statewide general permit allowing data centers to discharge wastewater into state waters such as Lake Erie. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-permit-withdrawal
Peterborough County, Ontario, has joined the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, becoming part of a coalition of more than 425 municipal and Indigenous government leaders working to protect freshwater resources while promoting economic growth across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region. Read the full story by CJMB – Peterborough, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-cities-initiative
Contractors plan to scoop and suction the notorious Lake St. Clair shoreline muck this fall as part of an $800,000 experiment to determine whether it can be effectively removed — and how quickly it comes back. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-muck-removal
Absent from Pennsylvania for over 60 years, the endangered piping plover has made a comeback at Presque Isle State Park in Erie. Federal, state and local officials came together in Erie this past weekend for “Pennsylvania Piping Plover Fest,” a celebration of the shorebird’s ten consecutive years of nesting in the Commonwealth. Read the full story by The Lewiston Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-plover-resurgence
Crews have begun work to restore the beach in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, after a warmer winter in 2020 eroded 80 feet from the shoreline. The $1.3 million project involves creating a heavy stone barrier parallel to the coast to help reduce the impact from waves while still allowing water to freely flow to the beach. Read the full story by WEWS-TV – Cleveland, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-beach-restoration
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is spending $1.8 million to raise part of the Keweenaw Waterway north entry breakwater near Houghton, Michigan, by several feet to stem the migration of mining waste known as “stamp sand” that has traveled up the coast of Lake Superior and accumulated in a shipping channel. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-breakwater-repairs
The Lake Erie Grape Belt, more than 50 miles worth of vineyards that stretch from Harborcreek Township to Silver Creek in Chautauqua, New York, is an economic engine that supports nearly 600 farms and provides hundreds of jobs. The region benefits from the moderating effects of Lake Erie that keeps temperatures within a certain range. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-grape-region
Members of the Anishinabek Nation are coming together this week for the second annual Water Gathering to protect and advocate for the Great Lakes, preserve traditional water teachings, and address legislation regarding source water protection and drinking water. Read the full story by Sarnia News Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-water-gathering
Victory Cruise Lines has added Erie, Pennsylvania, to its 2028 Ultimate Great Lakes Voyage itinerary. The cruise will take passengers to all five Great Lakes and stop at all eight bordering states. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-cruise-ports
In a time of political polarization, it’s easy to forget that the vast majority of Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs value environmental conservation. While this support is not easily or often translated into successful, popular initiatives, one success story is the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Read the full story by The Conversation.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260722-bipartisan-support
Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division received one-time funding of $350,000 for whitefish recovery. The species has undergone a rapid population decline in recent years, and for the first time, recovery efforts have a specific line in the state budget. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-whitefish-funding
Michigan is working to meet the new federal lead action level for drinking water by November 2027. The new rule will force all states to comply with a lead action level of 10 parts per billion. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-lead-laws
After an incredibly rough start to the Bayview Mackinac sailing course across Lake Huron on Saturday, race officials today confirmed nearly half of the fleet has dropped out due to extreme weather that snapped masts and tore sails. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-bayview-mackinac
A new peninsula has appeared at one of Michigan’s busiest beaches, but don’t expect it stay for long. Crews are building an addition to Silver Beach in St. Joseph as part of an experiment to see how different methods of putting dredged sand on the beach can reduce how long fine particles cloud the water. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-dredging-experiment
Crews have cleared a clogged sewer pipe that may have contributed to recent flooding in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The debris created a 420-foot clog in the sewer, packed with roughly 20 truckloads of material, located roughly half a mile from the pipe’s discharge point into Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-clogged-sewer
The Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc will open the new Wisconsin Sailing and Maritime Hall of Fame in September. The permanent exhibit will honor individuals and businesses that have shaped Wisconsin’s maritime heritage. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-wisconsin-sailing
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking for tips to find the person who they say left a dead lake sturgeon on a road in Whitehall, Michigan. Damage to the fish’s left gill plate indicates it may have been snagged, which is an illegal fishing method in Michigan. Read the full story by The Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-sturgeon-poached
The Detroit River Scholars program is helping youth connect with the heritage of the river through hands-on experience on a schooner. The program aims to break down historic barriers for people of color. Read the full story by Bridge Detroit.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-detroit-schooner
Cuyahoga County’s Fresh Water Institute and the Student Conservation Association help pair students with local organizations that complete work related to Ohio’s waterways, giving the next generation of environmental scientists hands-on experience. Read the full story by Spectrum News 1.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-cleveland-internships
An additional route has been added to the passenger ferry, RANGER III, to bring Isle Royale campers back to the mainland as wildfire smoke hangs heavy over Michigan skies. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260720-isle-royale
Two Michigan agencies approved key permits Wednesday for the Enbridge Line 5 tunnel to be built under the Straits of Mackinac. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-mi-line5-approvals
Great Lakes Tribal Nations and environmental advocates have called on state officials to shut down Line 5 for years and now decry Michigan’s approval of key permits to move the project forward. Read the full story by Michigan Advance.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-line5-opposition
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has temporarily closed the Sandy Creek boat launch in Monroe County because of high water levels on Lake Ontario. The closure took effect immediately after a recent inspection found that rising lake levels had caused the facility’s docks to become significantly submerged, creating a safety hazard for boaters. Read the full story by Finger Lakes Daily News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-nysdec-closed-launch
A new study based on data from competitive angling events in the Great Lakes found that more than 20% of black bass weighed at these events are over 10 years old, with at least one individual reaching its early 20s. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-black-bass
Great Lakes cruises are exploding in popularity as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shatters another record for visitors. These cruises aren’t just providing a luxurious experience, but also important scientific research. Read the full story by WITI-TV – Milwaukee, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-milwaukee-cruises
Smallmouth bass fishing is strong along Ohio’s Lake Erie coast, with anglers reporting high catch rates and healthy fish populations. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-smallmouth-bass
In Ontario, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit reported Wednesday that a sample of water taken in the northwest arm of Dog Lake tested positive for blue-green algae. Read the full story by Thunder Bay News Watch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-doglake-bga
A northern Michigan defense center is hosting a U.S. Navy military exercise off Lake Huron through Friday, July 24. The exercise, conducted at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center, includes experimentation with manned and unmanned drones throughout the Great Lakes, on the ground and in the air. Read the full story by Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-huron-military-drones
The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary and S.S. Badger will open an updated exhibit in the museum and aboard the car ferry. The exhibit highlights S.S. Badger history, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Ludington, Michigan, maritime artifacts and shipwrecks in the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast sanctuary. Read the full story by the Herald Times Reporter.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-ssbadger-exhibit
The Marquette Maritime Museum in Michigan is preparing for its 2026 Lake Superior Day celebration on Sunday, July 19. Since 2019, the museum has held the event to educate younger generations on the importance of preserving our waterfronts, while sharing the history and beauty of the largest Great Lake. Read the full story by WZMQ-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260717-superior-day
Seven decades after a 1957 moonshot project to control the population of invasive sea lamprey, legislation is now before Congress that would task the Great Lakes Fishery Commission with finding a control. The bipartisan bill, dubbed the “Save Great Lakes Fish Act of 2025,” proposes a $500 million budget spread across 10 years to find a solution. Read the full story by CNN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-lamprey-legislation
A recently completed restoration project along Michigan’s Lake St. Clair shoreline in Grosse Pointe Shores has brought the area back to a more natural state. Through the Great Lakes Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration supplied more than $200,000 for a feasibility study and provided a grant of more than $7,000,000 to the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House for engineering, design and construction. Read the full story by the Grosse Pointe Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-coastal-restoration
Infinite Erie, alongside Erie Mayor Daria S. Devlin and Erie County Executive Christina Vogel, will present the case for expanded maritime manufacturing in Erie, Pennsylvania, at a summit in Carlisle, PA., hosted by U.S. Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA). Read the full story by WICU-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-maritime-manufacturing
Michigan’s Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Natural Resources Division Fisheries Program finished its spring stocking season after releasing more than 1 million fish into the Upper Great Lakes, including more than 900,000 walleye and nearly 300,000 lake whitefish. Read the full story by WWTV-TV – Cadillac, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-fish-stocking
Scientists are now able to confirm via satellite that western Lake Erie’s 2026 algal bloom has started to form, though it hasn’t yet become abundant enough to form a mat on the surface. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-algae-forming
The company operating the two largest cruise ships on the Great Lakes, Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, has ordered two more exactly like them, officials announced. The 665-foot, expedition vessels will be joined by identical ships in 2030 and 2031. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-cruise-ships
The USS Silversides, one of the most decorated submarines of World War II, has arrived in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for a three-month preservation project — its first dry dock preservation in more than 50 years. Read the full story by WBAY-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-submarine-preservation
The Lake Huron Coastal Centre’s youth corps was back in Kincardine, Ontario, for the third year in a row to learn about the coastal environment, plastic pollution, and shoreline ecology. They used what they learned to protect the Lake Huron shoreline and develop their own knowledge and skills. Read the full story by The Kincardine Record.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-youth-engagement
The Erie Yacht Club recently hosted its 35th Frolic on the Bay, an event that provides boat rides and a picnic to individuals with special needs and those from disadvantaged situations. This year marked the biggest event since the program’s inception with nearly 200 guests in attendance. Read the full story by WJET-TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-community-event
Public health officials are warning of an outbreak of blue-green algae in Lake Superior’s Black Bay, approximately 80 kilometers northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Read the full story by SNnewswatch.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260715-algae-bloom
Michigan fisheries officials say that rising costs and stagnant fishing license fees could lead to further staffing and fish-stocking cuts, with only limited one-time funding provided in the latest state budget. Some lawmakers oppose fee increases, saying the Department of Natural Resources is mismanaged and shouldn’t get more public funding. Read the full story by Michigan Public.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-michigan-fisheries
Water chestnut, an invasive plant species, is choking waterways along Lake Ontario, spreading faster than officials and boaters can remove it. Read the full story by WHEC-TV – Rochester, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20260713-water-chestnut
