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In: Apostle Islands Grand Cruise, Bayfield Peninsula, Big Bay Town Park Madeline Island, Bill Bodin, Eat Wisconsin Fish, Emma Hauser, Friends of the Apostle Islands, Hoop's Fisheries, Jeff Rennicke, Melonee Montano, Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility, Sharon Moen, Wave Watch Buoy Project, Zhaagawaamikong Neyaashi

Members of the Wisconsin Sea Grant communications team look into an aquaculture tank at the Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility while Emma Hauser looks on. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Each summer, our communications team goes out in the field to see Sea Grant projects firsthand and to spend time with each other. This year’s learning trip took us to the Bayfield Peninsula and northern Wisconsin.

Emma Hauser shows off one of NADF’s aquacultured salmon. Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant

Highlights on the first day included a visit to the Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility in Red Cliff, where Sea Grant’s Emma Hauser helped us get up close and personal with some salmon. For dinner, we got even closer to fish as we ate Lake Superior whitefish caught by Hoop’s Fisheries in Bayfield.

Lake Superior whitefish (and chips) caught and cooked by Hoop’s Fisheries. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

On Day Two, we learned about the Wave Watch Buoy Project in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore from Jeff Rennicke, director of the Friends of the Apostle Islands. These University of Wisconsin–Madison data buoys allow boaters to access wind and wave information online, making for more safe boating.

Jeff Rennicke (right) with the Friends of the Apostle Islands talks about the group’s projects while Sea Grant’s Natalie Chin (left) and Moira Harrington (center) listen on the Bayfield City Dock. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Next, we toured Bodin’s Fisheries where Bill Bodin showed us how Lake Superior fish are processed after they’re caught. Afterward at a shore lunch hosted by Eat Wisconsin Fish’s Sharon Moen, we dined on Bodin’s whitefish, cooked over a charcoal grill.

Bill Bodin in his fish store. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Lake Superior fish caught by Bodin’s Fisheries. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

Sated, we caught the ferry to Madeline Island where we walked through a drizzle on the Big Bay Town Park boardwalk and learned more about the park’s unique lagoon, which is surrounded by a floating fen mat and, on the other side, a beautiful Lake Superior beach.

We caught the ferry back to the mainland only to board another boat for a grand cruise on the Apostle Islands. During the hourlong ride, we learned about the rich history of human interaction with these islands in Lake Superior. We saw lighthouses and sea caves cut into the island sandstone by the lake. We also waved to one of the Wave Watch buoys as we motored past.

Devil’s Island, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

On the final day of our field trip, we drove to Superior, Wisconsin, where we met with Melonee Montano, one of the leads for a project that is investigating how  Anishinaabe people connected to and homesteaded the lands of “Zhaagawaamikong Neyaashi” (Minnesota and Wisconsin points) and how they used fire to manage the landscape. She took us to both points and discussed the differences in habitats and uses.

Communications summer student Abigail Brown takes a photo of Melonee Montano on Minnesota Point for a video about her project. Image credit: Marie Zhuikov, Wisconsin Sea Grant

When the trip was over, I, for one, felt like my head was heavier from all the knowledge imparted by our speakers and experiences. These “crash courses” help greatly with our work to interpret Sea Grant research and outreach projects by providing us with vital background information. Plus, it’s not every day I get to watch a colleague hug a 20-pound salmon!

Editor Elizabeth White gets personal with a salmon at NADF while Emma Hauser looks on. Image credit: Wisconsin Sea Grant

 

 

The post Sea Grant communications team gets crash course in aquaculture, Lake Superior fish, buoys, bogs, islands and fire first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/sea-grant-communications-team-gets-crash-course-in-aquaculture-lake-superior-fish-buoys-bogs-islands-and-fire/

Marie Zhuikov

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In: water

By Amalia Medina Water tanks line a room in Philadelphia’s Water Works on the bank of the Schuylkill River. Inside are small fish that are hosts to tiny organisms that researchers say can help solve polluted waterways. Tucked under the fish gills are microscopic mussels that will mature and become capable of filtering 10 to […]

The post Harnessing mussels to filter fresh water: A biological cure for contaminants is being studied first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

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Great Lakes Echo

Great Lakes Echo

http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/08/19/harnessing-mussels-to-filter-fresh-water-a-biological-cure-for-contaminants-is-being-studied/

Amalia Medina

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In September, federal contractors will begin a pilot cleanup project in Torch Lake near Houghton, Michigan, where 400 deteriorating metal drums of mining waste have littered the Upper Peninsula lakebed for decades. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to figure out the best method for removing the drums, as well as other debris and contaminated sediment which are helping drive fish consumption advisories for species like bass, pike, and walleye. Read the full story by MLive.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240819-cleanup-study

James Polidori

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In: Daily News

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Enbridge Energy’s request to rehear its June decision to remand the Nessel v. Enbridge case, which denied Enbridge’s Line 5 project to continue, back to a Michigan state court. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240819-pipeline-litigation

James Polidori

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Nagamo, the only piping plover chick that survived from a full clutch of eggs spawned at Montrose Beach in Illinois, was seen flying away from the area on Wednesday, according to volunteers with the Chicago Piping Plovers organization. But the chick returned Saturday, along with another young plover — a cousin from Waukegan. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun-Times.

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Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240819-plover-return

James Polidori

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the main harmful algal bloom in western Lake Erie has expanded from the Toledo area to reach Huron, Ohio. The cyanobacteria bloom has an approximate area of 560 square miles, which is an increase in area since the last update on August 12. Read the full story by the Sandusky Register.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240819-habs-expansion

James Polidori

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The MI Healthy Climate Plan calls for Michigan to become carbon neutral by 2050. The Wolverine Power Collective’s plan to meet that goal involves the “Lake Michigan Connector” — a “superhighway” of electric cable across the lake that would allow power generated in the upper Midwest to be used in Michigan. Read the full story by WOOD-TV – Grand Rapids, MI.

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Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240819-power-production

James Polidori

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In: Daily News

The Port of Monroe recently received $1.5 million from the Michigan Maritime Grant Program for a new roll on/roll off extension that will facilitate the cross-border movement of large oversized transports from Canada. The port, Michigan’s only port on Lake Erie, is one of five facilities that received funding from the grant program. Read the full story by The Monroe News.

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Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240819-port-funding

James Polidori

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District has secured $760,000 for designing new erosion defenses at Old Fort Niagara in New York State. Considerable erosion along the Lake Ontario shoreline has jeopardized the wall surrounding Old Fort Niagara, threatening landmarks like the French Castle and North Redoubt at the state historic site. Read the full story by the Niagara Gazette.

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Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240819-erosion-prevention

James Polidori

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The City of Oshawa, Ontario, announced it has teamed up with the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority to repurpose old holiday trees as material to stabilize stream banks, control erosion, collect sediment, and improve overall stream habitat and water quality at the Enniskillen Conservation Area. Read the full story by the Durham Post.

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Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240819-stream-restoration

James Polidori

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This summer has been one of almost instant gratification for salmon anglers booking charter trips on the eastern basin of Lake Ontario. In the coming weeks the salmon action will increase as they move close to shore and begin staging for their spawning runs up the tributaries. Read the full story by the Republican Herald.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240819-salmon-fishing

James Polidori

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In: Art, Climate

By Jada Vasser Reusing materials in creative ways is a lifelong obsession for Ang Adamiak – one that led her to launch a nonprofit. Even though these days she says she’s mostly “in an office writing grants” while her staff is out doing “interesting work,” building partnerships around the sustainable reuse of materials still fuels […]

The post Arts & Scraps: Reusing materials to combat climate change first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

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Great Lakes Echo

http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/08/18/arts-scraps-reusing-materials-to-combat-climate-change/

Jada Vasser

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At 520 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking showers and thunderstorms along a line extending from near Black Creek to 6 miles north of Kaukauna to 8 miles southwest of Green Bay. Movement was south at 15 mph. HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph and brief heavy downpours. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Locations impacted include... Appleton, Kaukauna, Little Chute, Kimberly, Black Creek, Oneida, De Pere, Ashwaubenon, Combined Locks, and Wrightstown.

Original Article

Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI

Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI

https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.86ab2f32b583f688e176124f605ba70073d03d58.001.1.cap

NWS

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At 520 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking showers and thunderstorms along a line extending from near Black Creek to 6 miles north of Kaukauna to 8 miles southwest of Green Bay. Movement was south at 15 mph. HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph and brief heavy downpours. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Locations impacted include... Appleton, Kaukauna, Little Chute, Kimberly, Black Creek, Oneida, De Pere, Ashwaubenon, Combined Locks, and Wrightstown.

Original Article

Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI

Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI

https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.86ab2f32b583f688e176124f605ba70073d03d58.001.1.cap

NWS

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By Elinor Epperson Of all the things I could step in while wandering the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Northeast Michigan, vulture vomit was not on my list. My hosts, a team of scientists looking for native plant seeds, warned me to avoid it. Elizabeth Haber is a lead botanist with Seeds of Success, a […]

The post Commentary: Michigan joins federal program that collects native flora and champions restoration first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

Original Article

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Great Lakes Echo

http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/08/17/commentary-michigan-joins-federal-program-that-collects-native-flora-and-champions-restoration/

Elinor Epperson

On:
In: Great Lakes Compact
Molly Flannagan headshot.
Molly Flanagan, Chief Operating Officer & Vice President for Programs

On August 5th, the New York Times opinion section published a piece by Arizona State University professor Dr. Jay Famiglietti where he asked Will We Have to Pump the Great Lakes to California to Feed the Nation?

At the Alliance for the Great Lakes, we are compelled to remind those eyeing Great Lakes water that Famiglietti poses a question already answered. No, we can’t pump water from the Great Lakes to California because it would violate federal and state law, specifically the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact that prohibits such acts.  

Even if the impossible was possible – far better common-sense strategies than building expensive, thousand-mile-long water pipelines exist, like engaging in proven conservation, water reuse, and land-use planning initiatives. Only 1% of the water in the Great Lakes is renewed each year, underscoring the hard choices and complex planning that goes into keeping sustainable amounts of water available.  

Short-sighted Western water law, rampant unchecked growth, and poor agricultural policy is much to blame for Western water shortages. The idea of building a massive, large-scale public works project to move water from one area of the country to another – which the author acknowledges would be wasteful and environmentally harmful – may be easier for some to envision than having difficult conversations about sustainable water and land use management.  

Western water users would be better served working together to manage and plan for sustainable water use, like the eight Great Lakes states did, than embracing pipeline-in-the-sky fantasies made impossible by a settled agreement between the U.S. federal government, the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and eight states.  

Learn about the Great Lakes Compact

Learn more about the Great Lakes Compact and how it protects Great Lakes water.

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The post Great Lakes Water is Staying in the Great Lakes appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.

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News - Alliance for the Great Lakes

News - Alliance for the Great Lakes

https://greatlakes.org/2024/08/great-lakes-water-is-staying-in-the-great-lakes/

Judy Freed

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In: Uncategorized
At 301 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over Little Chute, or near Appleton, moving northeast at 25 mph. HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and half inch hail. SOURCE...Radar indicated. IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is possible. Locations impacted include... Appleton, Kaukauna, Little Chute, Kimberly, Darboy, Oneida, De Pere, Ashwaubenon, Combined Locks, and Wrightstown.

Original Article

Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI

Current watches, warnings, and advisories for Brown County (WIC009) WI

https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.ebc1cd86ea2cd48bbdd29c8046478bc70354ea5d.001.1.cap

NWS

On:
In: Climate

By Jada Vasser Six years ago, the Association for the Advancement of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing was founded by four mothers who wanted to create change and educational programming for their deaf children and community. “We are dedicated to improving the educational and occupational outcomes of deaf/hard of hearing youth and young adults by creating more accessible educational […]

The post Deaf and hard of hearing kids have a role in climate resilience first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.

Original Article

Great Lakes Echo

Great Lakes Echo

http://greatlakesecho.org/2024/08/16/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-kids-have-a-role-in-climate-resilience/

Jada Vasser

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In: Daily News

A tribal leader and conservationists urged Wisconsin state officials to reject plans to relocate part of the aging Enbridge Line 5 pipeline in northern Wisconsin, warning that the threat of a catastrophic spill would still exist along the new route. Read the full story by The Associated Press.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240816-pipeline-route

Taaja Tucker-Silva

On:
In: Daily News

The presence of an invasive plant known as water soldier was confirmed in Ontario’s Lake Simcoe for the first time. If left unchecked, water soldier has the potential to invade lakes and rivers throughout Ontario and the Great Lakes basin. Read the full story by Barrie Advance.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240816-water-soldier-found

Taaja Tucker-Silva

On:
In: Daily News

The County Commissioners Association of Ohio’s Joint Water Quality Task Force agreed that cleaning up the western Lake Erie watershed is falling short, but two questions have been left unanswered: How to tackle the problem and who is going to foot the bill. Read the full story by The Blade.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240816-erie-commissioners

Taaja Tucker-Silva

On:
In: Daily News

The Mackinac Island Ferry Co. will stop making trips from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace, Michigan, to the island effective Monday, leaving Shepler’s Ferry as the only operating ferry service for the rest of the season. Read the full story by Bridge Michigan.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240816-mackinac-ferry-repairs

Taaja Tucker-Silva

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In: Daily News

Lake Erie’s harmful algal blooms have started sooner and had longer peak periods over the past decade compared to earlier years, newly released data shows. Warming temperatures linked to climate change are a cause, with interactions among species likely playing a role as well. Read the full story by Cleveland Scene.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240816-erie-bloom-shift

Taaja Tucker-Silva

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In: Daily News

After tens of millions of dollars in public funding and decades of work by many, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving to remove from its list of Areas of Concern Lake Ontario’s Rochester embayment, which lies between Towns of Webster and Parma, New York. Read the full story by The Democrat and Chronicle.

Original Article

Great Lakes Commission

Great Lakes Commission

https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20240816-rochester-aoc

Taaja Tucker-Silva