Here are three new webinars you can join for free to get ideas about how to help kids learn about the Great Lakes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/great-lakes-learning-webinars/
Michigan outdoor recreation-related companies are struggling to stay afloat amid the fallout from COVID-19.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/covid-19-michigan-outdoor-recreation-revenue/
When you picture farming in Wisconsin, you might think first of dairy cattle or vegetable crops. But aquaculture, or fish farming, is also an important part of Wisconsin’s ag economy.
As one speaker—Todd Kalish of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources—pointed out at the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association’s annual conference earlier this month, fish farming represents $21 million in economic activity for our state and 500 jobs. Among Midwestern states, Wisconsin is home to the highest number of aquaculture operations.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic brought business travel to a halt for many, the Wisconsin Aquaculture Association (WAA) held its annual meeting March 6-7 in Marshfield. Wisconsin Sea Grant co-sponsored the conference, reflecting the importance the National Sea Grant Office places on developing sustainable, domestic aquaculture.
The theme of this year’s WAA conference was “Diversifying Our Markets.” As the organization’s president, Bill West of Blue Iris Fish Farm, noted, a lot of farmers love growing things, but find that marketing is not their strong suit or passion. As a result, several sessions were designed to help farmers think creatively about how to connect with consumers.
Bret Shaw presents Sea Grant-supported research on needs and opportunities faced by Wisconsin fish farmers. (Photo: Jennifer Smith)
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers Bret Shaw and Kristin Runge presented their Wisconsin Sea Grant-funded research over several sessions. They undertook a multi-part project that looked at how fish farmers perceive their industry, and what their needs and opportunities are; what Wisconsin consumers think about farm-raised fish; and how people respond to social-media messaging about farmed fish.
Although not present at the conference, collaborators in this work included Shiyu Yang, Laura Witzling, Chris Hartleb and Deidre Peroff. You can find full reports on the work done by this team online (see “Aquaculture in Wisconsin: Results from a Statewide Survey of Fish Farmers” and “Consumer Attitudes Toward Wisconsin Farm-Raised Fish: Public Opinion and Marketing Recommendations.”)
Other sessions covered public-private partnerships related to fish stocking, the latest research from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility, fish health and biosecurity, yellow perch research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, workforce development and more.
Rainbow trout served at lunch came from Silver Moon Springs Farm in Elton, Wisconsin. (Photo: Jennifer Smith)
Of course, it’s not an aquaculture conference without getting to taste the fruits of Wisconsin farmers’ labors. In addition to the traditional “Taste of Wisconsin” evening social highlighting local products, Friday’s lunch—while attendees heard from National Aquaculture Association President Paul Zajicek—was a tasty and healthy plate of rainbow trout from Silver Moon Springs Farm in Elton, Wisconsin.
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-fish-farmers-boost-marketing-savvy/
The public can continue to enjoy aquariums, museums and centers as the facilities close buildings. But starting March 25, Parks Canada is closing all national parks.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/aquariums-museums-online-livestreams-covid-19/
Fish and Wildlife Service News
Fish and Wildlife Service News
http://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?ref=service-awards-$1.38-million-for-fish-and-wildlife-restoration-in-the-&_ID=36605
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/03/25/former-hunting-tv-show-host-sentenced-for-violation-of-lacey-act/
In this Q&A, Central Michigan University Professor Don Uzarski talks about how critical healthy wetlands are for the Great Lakes region.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/wetland-wisdom-documentary-looks-at-breakthrough-in-great-lakes-wetland-research/
Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative is encouraging the public to participate in H.O.M.E.S. at Home, a streaming online video program offered by Michigan Sea Grant and Michigan State University Extension. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-livestreaming
New research shows that fishes on either side of Niagara Falls—one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world—are unlikely to breed with one another. Read the full story by phys.org.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-niagara
The 2020 Twin Ports shipping season got underway over the weekend as the “Burns Harbor” became the first laker to depart the Port of Duluth-Superior. Read the full story by KDAL – Duluth, MN.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-shipping
The Flagship Niagara league announced today that it will delay the sailing season for the U.S. Brig Niagara until August. Read the full story by WJET- TV – Erie, PA.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-sailing
The Duluth Seaway Port Authority has been allocated a $10.5 million MARAD Port Infrastructure Development grant to help fund construction of a 56,000-square-foot, rail-served warehouse at the Clure Public Marine Terminal, along with rehabilitation of 1,775 lineal feet of deteriorating dock walls at Berth 10 and 11 of the Clure Terminal Expansion. Read the full story by Marine Log.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-infrastructure-grant
Lake Michigan cities continue to face erosion along their shorelines and, despite dwindling reserves, the problem is far from over. Read the full story by the Indianapolis Star.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-erosion
Guide Mike Hanson was catching sauger and walleye Saturday on the Illinois River below the Starved Rock Lock and Dam when he caught the fish of a lifetime. Read the full story by the Chicago Sun Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-sturgeon
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alder set sail Sunday from Duluth and are heading south for Lake Michigan to start setting summer aids to navigation (buoys). Read the full story by Business North.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-navigation
Michigan Senator Gary Peters has introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at providing support to local communities facing rising water, coastal erosion, and flooding that has put homes and property at risk and already caused millions in damages. Read the full story by the Huron Daily Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-legislation
The International Joint Commission is opening the floodgates even more to help get as much water out of Lake Ontario as possible before the spring melt. Read the full story by the Recorder and Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200324-ijc
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals sent an air-emissions permit for the PolyMet copper-nickel mine back to state regulators for further review on Monday, giving another victory to environmental groups who oppose the project.
The appeals court found that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency did not adequately evaluate whether the air permit requested by PolyMet was a “sham permit” — meaning one that didn’t accurately reflect the size and scope of PolyMet’s proposed mine.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-minnesota-court-appeals-polymet-permit-mpca/
The eight Great Lakes states and Canada are approaching PFAS contamination in their own ways and setting their own standards.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/pfas-standards-actions-state-canada/
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/03/24/covid-19-could-cut-millions-of-dollars-of-michigans-outdoor-related-revenue/
As the author of Great Lakes Now’s collection of lesson plans, educational consultant Gary Abud Jr. is now providing more support for parents, teachers and caregivers who want to incorporate Great Lakes learning into their time with children and students.
Find the lesson plans and the virtual field trip online HERE.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/great-lakes-learning-introducing-resources-remote-teaching/
Decades of chronic underfunding of water infrastructure is putting many countries at worse risk in the coronavirus crisis, with more than half the global population lacking access to safely managed sanitation, experts said as the UN marked World Water Day on Sunday. Read the full story by The Guardian.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-infrastructure
During the spring migration, Duluth is the best spot to see bald eagles anywhere in North America. One day last migration season, the expert counters here tallied a record-breaking 1,076 bald eagles, the most ever recorded in a single day anywhere in the world. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-eagle
The U.S. and Ohio environmental protection agencies need to stop resisting their clear responsibility regarding Lake Erie: Enforce the Clean Water Act. Read the full story by the Akron Business Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-erie
As southern Ontario’s population is rapidly growing, suppliers of sand, rock and gravel are being pitted against citizens concerned about the impact urban sprawl and aggregate extraction have on the environment. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-landuse
As the winter snow starts to melt, the road salt and other chemicals deployed to treat icy roads are slowly trickling into lakes, rivers and streams. In Minnesota, researchers are out taking regular samples of Duluth’s waterways in the hopes of finding out if the world’s largest freshwater lake is at risk of becoming too salty. Read the full story by the Star Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-salt
As it is it closed to the public, the Great Lakes Science Center is still living up to its mission to make science, technology, engineering and math, aka STEM, come alive – this time with web-based “Curiosity Corner” programming. Read the full story by The News-Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-videos
At a time when many Michigan companies are slowing down due to the coronavirus pandemic, business is booming for contractors working along Lake Michigan’s shoreline as they try to save people’s homes from extremely high water levels. Read the full story by Interlochen Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-erosion
In five years during the 19th century, the population of Erie, Pennsylvania, nearly doubled, requiring action to ensure a supply of safe drinking water. Read the full story by The Record Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-waterworks
Ohio’s Ashtabula County Metroparks board met on Friday morning to authorize an agreement for a pair of Greenway Trails. The North Shore Trail, proposed more than 20 years ago, would connect the Western Reserve Greenway Trail to Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Star Beacon.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-metroparks
Michigan homeowners who live on the lakeshore and need to take measures to save their homes or infrastructure are required to get a permit from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy before changes can be made to the shoreline. The agency’s seen a stark increase in the number of permit requests during the first quarter of this fiscal year. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200323-permits
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Hunter Hicks, Great Lakes Now
The lack of ice across the Great Lakes region has business booming for those in the ice fishing industry fortunate enough to have safe conditions, but has left others high and dry.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/warm-weather-ice-fishing-industry/
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Researchers in Minnesota are trying to find an alternative to road salt in an effort to protect the state’s water bodies from contamination.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Saturday that road salt is the top source of chloride in state waters. Scientists have been ramping up warnings that rising chloride levels could harm aquatic life and turn tap water salty.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/ap-scientists-testing-alternative-road-salt/
The tourism that usually rises around this time is on hold, but residents are battening down with ease.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/great-lakes-islands-ferry-coronavirus-covid-19/
Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2020/03/23/ontarios-origins-lead-to-land-use-disputes/
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Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/freshwater-future-weekly-march-20-2020-covid-19-update/
With the COVID-19 global pandemic continuing to spread throughout the U.S., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines have stressed the importance of staying hydrated and rigorously washing hands as a preventative health effort.
But for thousands of residents in Detroit, Flint, Benton Harbor, Hamtramck and other cities around southeast Michigan, following these guidelines is difficult when your water is shut off.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/water-rights-advocates-stations-michigan-governor-mayor/
Catch the latest in Great Lakes energy news in Great Lakes Now’s fortnightly energy-related headline roundup.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/energy-solar-low-income-court-appeal/
The coronavirus pandemic has the Great Lakes tourism industry uncertain about their businesses, especially if the epidemic extends into the summer. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-parks-biz
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has temporarily made public access to all state parks and recreation areas free in order to limit transactions between the public and staff in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus and to encourage people to pursue healthy activities outdoors. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200319-restoring-lakes
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation is planning to release more trout into Lake Ontario and Lake Erie watersheds than anticipated because the trout were grown in hatcheries where zebra mussels were discovered, and thus staff have decided to release the fish only in waters where mussels were previously found. Read the full story by the Times Observer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-trout
Ohio has closed lodges in its state parks in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, however most parks currently remain open to the public. Read the full story by The Columbus Dispatch.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-oh-park
New York state officials have continued to limit chinook salmon stocking and catch limits in Lake Ontario as the state works to improve the low alewife populations that serve as the chinook’s food source. Read the full story by New York Upstate.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-chinook
The 2019 walleye hatch in Lake Erie has been the second largest recorded since the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ first implementation of the current modern fish survey system. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-walleye
Michigan is allowing its state beaches, parks and recreation areas to remain open, but is restricting large gatherings and urging proper hygiene while using the parks. Read the full story by the Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-parks-mi
Lawmakers in the Wisconsin Legislature are proposing several bills to mitigate damage caused by shoreline erosion. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-shoreline-bill
Forest preserves in the Chicago area offer opportunities to find rare plant species and beautiful views of Lake Michigan. Read the full story by the Daily Herald.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-lake-co-parks
South Haven, Michigan, closed its marina for the summer season due to damage from high Great Lakes water this winter. The city faces at least $16 million in estimated damage from the high-water levels. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20200320-south-haven
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI125F40E85100.SpecialWeatherStatement.125F40E96270WI.GRBSPSGRB.23e6d808842e5736e0274c907ca0fbda
At the Blue Water Bridge, International Bridge, Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Mackinac Bridge, tolls will stop taking cash.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/03/bridge-tolls-travel-no-cash-coronavirus/
