Lake Erie Awareness Day will take place in Put-in-Bay, Ohio, on Thursday, August 11. This event will feature activity stations to explore the cultural, historical, and ecological importance of the islands and draw attention to aquatic and terrestrial conservation efforts. Read the full story by WTOL-TV – Toledo, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220727-erie-awareness
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/billion-dollar-disasters-mapping-vulnerabilities-census-tract-level-data
Advocates for the Mississippi River are hoping that a proposed federal funding program, modeled after an effort to clean up the Great Lakes, could change the trajectory of the river’s increasing flood frequency, address invasive species, pollution, and the dead zone where the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico. Read the full story by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-mississippi
Members of a hunting and fishing advocacy group want a federal judge to make them an official party to negotiations between the state and five Michigan tribes over treaty-protected fishing rights. Read the full story by Mlive.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-fishing
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is the lead state agency for Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, permitting the $450 million project and in December, released a draft environmental review of the company’s plan. Now, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the state’s review failed to fully analyze the ways in which the project could harm the environment, as well as tribal resources and treaty rights. Read the full story by Wisconsin Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-line-3
Members of the Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation addressed the council of Tiny Township, Ontario at the recent committee of the whole meeting, presenting an update on Georgian Bay issues including water levels and water quality, and asking the township for a letter of support for funding from the federal government. Read the full story by BarrieToday.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-georgian-bay
A Canadian man on a quest to raise awareness and money for mental health through crossing all five Great Lakes by paddleboard this summer, is ready for his next conquest. Mike Shoreman, who this summer has crossed Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Superior by paddleboard, is planning on crossing Lake Michigan, starting on Tuesday night and overnight into Wednesday. Read the full story by WJXT-TV – Jacksonville, FL.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-paddleboard
The 2022 algal bloom is expected to have a low severity index of 3.5, according to the final forecast from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration released June 30. This will be the fourth year out of the past seven that the algal bloom will be rated less than 4 on a scale of 1 (mild) to 10 (severe). Read the full story by Ohio’s Country Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-algae
The River Raisin contributes phosphorus and drains into Lake Erie. Now, Michigan farmers are talking about what can be done. Read the full story by Michigan Public Radio.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-phosphorus
Tempers are flaring on a stretch of Southwestern Ontario’s Lake Huron shore amid complaints of trespassing and bullying as frustrated cottage owners clash with beachgoers over access to the sand and water on their private property. Read the full story by The London Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-beach
The future Lakeview Village will see 8,000 residential units constructed on 177 acres of Mississauga, Ontario’s Lake Ontario coastline. A district energy system could drastically reduce the carbon footprint of these units and their future residents utilizing the adjacent waste water treatment plant. Read the full story by The Pointer.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-energy
Residents of Aitkin County, Minnesota have concerns with proposed sulfide mining in the state near abundant wetlands and the headwaters of the Mississippi River and St. Croix watershed, and with many nearby communities including Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth there is concern these communities could eventually be affected by acid drainage among other issues. Read the full story by Duluth News-Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220725-sulfide
Fish are a big part of Emma Kraco’s life. While pursuing her biology degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the recent graduate worked in fish labs in the university’s School of Freshwater Sciences. Those included both a U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory and one run by Professor Dong Fang Deng. Kraco assisted Deng with a study and subsequent publication on the effects of ingested microplastics on yellow perch fingerlings.
This summer, however, finds Kraco out of the lab and on the road as a Wisconsin Sea Grant intern in the Community Engaged Internship program. She’s part of a cohort of 10 interns working on a range of projects, each with a different mentor.
Emma Kraco talks about Wisconsin fish with attendees at Kids’ Fishing Day at the Northern Great Lakes Visitors Center in Ashland, Wisconsin. (Photo: Sharon Moen)
Kraco works alongside Eat Wisconsin Fish Outreach Specialist Sharon Moen, who looks for ways to support and enhance Wisconsin’s commercial fishing and fish farming industries, as well as engage with consumers to spark their interest in local fish. So far this summer, the two have traveled to Bayfield, Ashland, Green Bay, Milwaukee and numerous other points.
Kraco’s responsibilities include refining the interactive map on the Eat Wisconsin Fish website, which helps consumers locate local fish producers, markets and more. She’s also working on a project to tell the story of yellow perch with respect to its past, present and future as an iconic Wisconsin fish fry staple.
“Emma’s knowledge base, curiosity and enthusiasm have been such a boost for the Eat Wisconsin Fish initiative,” said Moen. “I have been so impressed with the way she has interacted with the fish producers we have met with this summer. Her questions have been thoughtful, and her follow-up has been remarkable. On top of this, I really appreciate her patience in learning Online ArcGIS skills to overcome the mapping challenges laid out for her. I have no doubt that she’ll be one to watch as Wisconsin’s aquaculture scene matures.”
We recently caught up with Kraco for a brief Q&A. Here’s what she had to say:
What has been most enlightening to you about this internship?
The people are one of the most interesting things about this internship. From the small-town dynamics of the local fisheries, to the trials and successes of the farms, I have loved hearing their stories. Each operation is as unique as the person running it. Meeting with producers and seeing where they work has given me a new appreciation for how diverse their needs are. For me, this project has highlighted the importance of extension and outreach work and the need for better science communication.
What’s it like to work with Sharon Moen, Eat Wisconsin Fish outreach specialist? She’s a force!
Sharon Moen and Emma Kraco during a stop by the UW-Madison campus in June 2022. (Photo: Jennifer Smith)
Working for Sharon has been a blast! One of the things that makes her so great to work for is her energy and passion for this project. We’ve been lucky enough to travel throughout the state meeting people in the food-fish production industry. On each of the trips, our days have been packed from morning to night with meetings with fishers and farmers.
Sharon knows how to make the most of our time on the road, but she also knows how to play as hard as she works. We’ve been able to see state parks and museums, sample local cuisine and meet many fabulous Sea Grant professionals and scientists along the way. This internship has given me a whole new appreciation for the state of Wisconsin.
Do you have a favorite fish, either to study or to eat?
I love to eat yellow perch—they are a Midwest staple, after all—but I would jump at the opportunity to work more closely with lake sturgeon. They are such a beautiful, ancient fish with a fascinating life cycle and cultural significance in the Great Lakes region.
What’s next for you after this internship?
I’ll remain in Milwaukee and work full time for the USDA-ARS (U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service) cold and coolwater fish lab located in the School of Freshwater Sciences. I’m also beginning an online master’s program in Geographic Information Systems, and I plan to continue honing my skills in outreach and aquaculture education.
The post Out of the lab and on the road: Meet Emma Kraco, Eat Wisconsin Fish intern first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant
https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/meet-emma-kraco/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meet-emma-kraco
NCEI News Feed
http://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/humans-ncei-elliot-lim
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/grb/072322_severe_event
Note: This blog is part of a periodic series of updates from Don Jodrey, the Alliance’s Director of Federal Government Relations, with his view on Great Lakes policy from Washington, DC.
At the beginning of the year we announced an ambitious federal policy agenda. We’re now just past the halfway mark of the year. So we’re asking: are we making progress, or is there more we can do to advocate for the Great Lakes?
As a quick refresher, our policy agenda for 2022 included:
On the funding side, the U.S. House of Representatives responded to our priorities and just voted on an appropriations bill that includes increased funds for the Great Lakes. Included in the “minibus” legislation (approximately six appropriations bills all bundled together) are:
While the Senate has yet to move any funding bills for a vote, the House actions are encouraging. They demonstrate that Congress recognizes the importance of these programs to a healthy Great Lakes.
In addition to funding, the House and Senate – on a bipartisan vote – are moving legislation that continues strong momentum to stop invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan.
Invasive carp pose a serious threat to the Great Lakes. Silver and bighead carp have already wreaked havoc on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, out-competing native fish for food and injuring people who recreate on the rivers. The invasive fish are steadily spreading upstream toward Lake Michigan. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun designing a critical project to stop invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan by installing prevention measures at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Illinois, a chokepoint in waterways leading to Lake Michigan.
The House passed its version of the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 that will increase the federal cost-share – which is how much the federal government will chip in for this critical project – to 90%. The Senate has moved its version of the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 out of committee and is expected to pass the bill later this summer. The Senate committee bill also includes the same cost-share provision as the House bill. This is good news and shows that Congress and the Administration recognize that the invasive carp moving toward Lake Michigan threaten the entire Great Lakes region.
The legislative process will continue for the next several months and hopefully conclude before the start of the new federal fiscal year in October. We are encouraged by the progress thus far and will continue to press for increased funding and authority for programs that support and maintain the Great Lakes.
But it’s not too late for you to weigh in and encourage your members of congress to support clean water and a healthy Great Lakes.
The post Mid-Year Update: Alliance’s 2022 Federal Priorities appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2022/07/mid-year-update-alliances-2022-federal-priorities/
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126401067850.SevereThunderstormWarning.126401123ADCWI.GRBSVRGRB.25057e07af2756f33aa00634c2e68351
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12640106607C.SpecialWeatherStatement.1264010680E8WI.GRBSPSGRB.7520cb428c3c67ad07be789df893eb3c
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126401065EEC.SevereThunderstormWatch.12640112D140WI.GRBWCNGRB.51117d9e391b1f4a0caf7c321e78f7f9
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI126401039F68.SpecialWeatherStatement.12640103C1C8WI.GRBSPSGRB.c1dd12e56d764e012aa8c0b02812c3da
Researchers are on a mission to map the bottom of all five Great Lakes, a system so sparsely-documented, some portions contain only one or two data points to cover an area the size of Detroit. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-mappingbottomgreatlakes
A tank of live invasive sea lampreys — the vampires of the Great Lakes — will visit the Midland Tall Ships Festival from July 22 through July 24. Read the full story by Midland Today.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-vampiresofthegreatlakes
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission announced that it has conducted targeted invasive carp sampling in Presque Isle Bay, Erie County, after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) detected the presence of Silver Carp environmental DNA (eDNA). Read the full story by PennWATCH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-invasivesilvercarp
Some South Haven businesses have started offering red flag day specials — deals to incentivize families to visit them rather than Lake Michigan when conditions are dangerous. Read the full story by UP Matters.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-redflagdealslakemi
Member agencies of the St. Marys River Fisheries Task Group will conduct a fish community survey of the entire St. Marys River during August. The St. Marys River is a connecting channel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The survey work will cover many locations along the 70-mile-long river, from the upper river near Brimley to where the river empties into Lake Huron at DeTour. Read the full story by The Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-fishsurverystmarysriver
West Michigan welcomes tens of thousands of visitors from around the world every summer and many of them travel by cruise ship. Cruise the Great Lakes expects about 150,000 visitors into ports around the Midwest and Canada in 2022. There are 4 cruise lines serving Great Lakes ports, generating more than $120 million this season. One of those ports is Muskegon. Read the full story by Fox 7 News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-greatlakescruises
A local history museum paired with the public library would make for an “exciting” combination at the Discovery Centre on Hamilton’s west harbour, Mayor Fred Eisenberger says. Read the full story by the Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-waterfrontdiscoverycentre
Three parks in Northeast Michigan will undergo improvements after Michigan allocated $535,000 to help fund renovations. Rogers City is slated to receive $185,000 to update the popular Lakeside Park on Lake Huron. Read the full story by The Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-localparkfunding
Jurors heard closing arguments Thursday in the only trial to arise thus far from the Flint water crisis, a dispute over whether two engineering firms should be held partially responsible for the city’s lead contamination in 2014-15. Read the full story by WNEM-TV – Saginaw, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-flintwatercase
Sixty years of the Canadian Coast Guard service in Canada was recognized during a service aboard the Canadian Coast Guard vessel and museum, the Alexander Henry, on Monday. The Alexander Henry, a decommissioned icebreaker and part of the Lakehead Transportation Museum in Thunder Bay, was also celebrated — as it was launched in the city 64 years ago. Read the full story by The Chronicle Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220722-cacoastguard
The high concentration of microplastics in the Great Lakes is causing issues for humans and wildlife, and recycling alone will not remedy the problem. Read the full story by the Hamilton Spectator.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220720-miroplastics
With the improvement of water and wildlife conditions within the Rochester, New York, embayment of Lake Ontario, health and environmental agencies are seeking public input on the proposed elimination of the Area of Concern designation. Read the full story by the Rochester Business Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220720-rochester-embayment
A harmful algae bloom that can be toxic to humans and aquatic life has been spotted in western parts of Lake Erie over the past couple of days. The type of algae present in this algae bloom has been identified as Microcystis cyanobacteria. Read the full story by WKBN-TV – Youngstown, OH.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220720-algae-bloom
A recent meeting of the Pennsylvania Senate’s Game & Fisheries Committee focused on the recovery of fish populations and water quality in Lake Erie, as well as the need for more funding to promote tourism for the area. Read the full story by The Center Square.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220720-erie-hearing
For the first time in four years, local, tribal, and state groups came together with the U.S. Coast Guard to train for disasters on the Great Lakes. Drones, self-driving personal watercraft, and other remote-controlled water vehicles took center stage on Lake Huron. Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220720-oil-spills
Working with the organization Save the River, 34 members of U.S. Congress have sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lobbying for stricter ballast water discharge standards. Read the full story by WRVO- Oswego, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220720-ballast-standards
Awaiting state budget approval, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy could soon be building a jetty in the first step to clean up mine waste from Buffalo Reef on Lake Superior with the help of six additional agencies. Read the full story by WLUC-TV – Marquette, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220720-egle-jetty
A group of Duluth, Minnesota, high school students has collaborated with their peers in Petrozavodsk, Russia, to produce a video celebrating their shared connections as residents of communities located on two of the largest freshwater lakes in the world — Lake Superior and Lake Onega. Read the full story by the Duluth News Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220720-student-connections
The Great Lakes Water Authority announced that they’ve denied about 24,000 claims from victims of last year’s extensive southeast Michigan summer flooding after a probe found that heavy rainfall was the primary cause, not the electrical problems at two east-side pumping stations that reduced the ability to pump wastewater. Read the full story by the Detroit Free Press.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220720-flooding-claims
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/grb/071919_severe_event
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/grb/071919_severe_event
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/grb/072019_severe_event
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/grb/072019_severe_event
MADISON, Wis. — Mexican free-tailed bats can be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus but don’t appear to spread it or become sick, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study published today.
Wisconsin
http://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/covid-19-virus-can-infect-mexican-free-tailed-bats
By Mary Schmidt, Fox Locks Marketing
We’re used to seeing pontoons, pleasure boats, and kayaks through the Fox Locks, but imagine if a pleasure cruiser longer than a football field were to go through a lock. You’d need a really big lock and that’s what we saw on a recent cruise on the Danube River. Our tour passed through Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary where we crossed through several locks—most during the overnight hours. We were on board the Avalon Passion, one of the Avalon line’s river cruisers—at 443’ long and 39’ wide, the ship can be a tight fit in a lock if there are other boats present. As a comparison, our locks are between 35’-37’ long!
We started the cruise at Regensburg, Germany, then crossed beautiful hills on the way to Passau, Germany. The Jochenstein Lock is in the Wachau Valley near Passau and provided excellent views through the locks.
The captain invited us onto the bridge to watch the process, but as soon as we were in the lock, he steered the ship from controls located on the port and starboard sides of the ship. There, he got a closer look at the clearance on the sides of the lock—at some points it was only a few inches. Please watch this short video to get an idea of what it’s like to travel through locks that have been in use for commercial and pleasure crafts for years.
Blog – Fox Locks
http://foxlocks.org/2022/07/18/a-trip-through-european-locks/
By Mary Schmidt, Fox Locks Marketing
We’re used to seeing pontoons, pleasure boats, and kayaks through the Fox Locks, but imagine if a pleasure cruiser longer than a football field were to go through a lock. You’d need a really big lock and that’s what we saw on a recent cruise on the Danube River. Our tour passed through Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary where we crossed through several locks—most during the overnight hours. We were on board the Avalon Passion, one of the Avalon line’s river cruisers—at 443’ long and 39’ wide, the ship can be a tight fit in a lock if there are other boats present. As a comparison, our locks are between 35’-37’ long!
We started the cruise at Regensburg, Germany, then crossed beautiful hills on the way to Passau, Germany. The Jochenstein Lock is in the Wachau Valley near Passau and provided excellent views through the locks.
The captain invited us onto the bridge to watch the process, but as soon as we were in the lock, he steered the ship from controls located on the port and starboard sides of the ship. There, he got a closer look at the clearance on the sides of the lock—at some points it was only a few inches. Please watch this short video to get an idea of what it’s like to travel through locks that have been in use for commercial and pleasure crafts for years.
Blog – Fox Locks
http://foxlocks.org/2022/07/18/a-trip-through-european-locks/
A parade and ceremony will take place today in Thunder Bay, Ontario in recognition of 60 years of Canadian Coast Guard service. The event will celebrate the critical contribution and role of the Canadian Coast Guard in maintaining and policing the waterways of the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway System since 1962. Read the full story by Lake Superior News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220718-coast-guard
Celebrated every year on the third Sunday in July, Lake Superior Day is a day to bask in the glory of the largest of the Great Lakes. Read the full story by WDIC-TV – Detroit, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220718-lake-superior
Dr. David Philipp, a professor at the University of Illinois and a Director of the Fisheries Conservation Foundation has been studying the bass populations in eastern Ontario lakes for decades. He argues that though the bass season opened June 18 this year, males were still guarding their broods contributing to increased nest predation. Read the full story by Smiths Falls Record News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220718-fish-spawning
Even though this is the first year for the Viking’s cruise ships on the Great Lakes, commercial cruising has been slowly expanding in the lakes the past decade, with the exception of the initial pandemic years. 2022 may be setting records, with nine cruise ships setting sail this season, four of them new ships making their inaugural trips through the locks and into the lakes. Read the full story by Chicago Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20220718-cruise-ship
