Great Lakes Daily News

The Great Lakes currently have record low ice coverage. Ice coverage across all the lakes is 3.9%, compared with 11% at the same time last year. Read the full story by CNN.

Since 1985, communities across the Great Lake region have come together to clean and restore heavily contaminated sites in 42 Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). The U.S. and Canadian federal government have spent over $22.5 billion to bring back the ecosystems, to reinvigorate habitat and to clean up the sediment so that the fish and wildlife populations can survive. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.

With the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Act of 2021, Great Lakes tribal fisheries were included in the $30 million allotted for tribal fisheries nationwide. Another $15 million was set aside for “non-tribal commercial, aquaculture, processor and charter fishery participants” in Great Lakes states. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.

Environmentalists would like to see President Biden reinstate stricter policies with a focus on water level regulations that protect the Great Lakes. Activists also hope addressing climate change remains one of President Biden’s top priorities. Read the full story by KQDS–TV – Duluth, MN.

With a new administration committed to the environment and climate change, an increase in funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and with Chicago’s history of innovation, the city has an opportunity to again be a leader in U.S. infrastructure and water management. Read the full story by Crain’s Chicago Business.

The Great Lakes face numerous stressors that threaten the Lake Michigan’s ecology, including invasive species, climate change and nutrient pollution. Read the full story by Crain’s Chicago Business.

A federal agency has awarded the University of Toledo’s Lake Erie Center nearly $80,000 to transform the Sandpiper cruise vessel into a floating laboratory to help area teachers provide more hands-on learning experiences along the Maumee River. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.

Construction began this week on a project to restore the Boardman River in Traverse City, Michigan. The restoration project includes an innovative “adaptive fish sorting channel” that will allow desirable fish to move up- and downstream while restricting passage of invasive species. Read the full story by MLive.

Hazardous PFAS chemicals linked to cancer have been found in the Yahara River and all five of surrounding lakes near Madison, Wisconsin. State officials have not warned against eating the fish until they confirm they are contaminated. Read the full story by the Wisconsin State Journal.

Warm temperatures and low ice coverage on Lake Erie are limiting ice fishing opportunities this year for anglers in Erie, Pennsylvania. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.