Great Lakes Daily News

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is reminding anglers about how to protect lake sturgeon while fishing this spring and summer. Special regulations exist for lake sturgeon, and fishing for lake sturgeon is prohibited except for a few locations in the state. Read the full story by WXYZ-TV – Detroit, MI.

Concerns are growing over unusually thin lake trout, dubbed “zombie fish,” in Lake Superior, prompting state and federal agencies to launch a new assessment to determine the cause.  Read the full story by WPBN-TV – Traverse City, MI.

When the party fishing boats launch in Port Clinton and Marblehead, Ohio, it’s a confirmation that the walleye season has begun around Western Lake Erie. The most economical of the fishing charter operations, the big boats can take a couple of dozen anglers out on the big lake and find success putting yellow perch or walleye in the coolers. Read the full story by The Plain Dealer.

Republican Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Ohio Senate President Rob McColley visited northwest Ohio to promote and discuss the state’s H2Ohio water quality program, which focuses on protecting Lake Erie. Read the full story by the Toledo Blade.

Community and conservation partners are extending a public invitation to explore the newly protected AuSable River Scenic Preserve in Michigan. The opportunity will be available as part of a community celebration, which has been set for Tuesday, April 14, to showcase the 42-acre riverfront nature preserve in Oscoda. Read the full story by Iosco County News Herald.

Spring is spawning season for Michigan’s dinosaur-like aquatic life and it’s become tradition for environmentalists to “stand guard” as this vulnerable fish population makes its way up stream. Read the full story by MLive.

In Wisconsin, conservationists are celebrating the return of sturgeon to the Milwaukee River, 20 miles upstream from Lake Michigan. It’s the first time one of the giant fish was documented in Ozaukee County in more than a century. The discovery of the sturgeon so far from Lake Michigan signals a milestone in a massive sturgeon restoration project that’s been underway for 20 years. Read the full story by WUWM – Milwaukee, WI.

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians is working to repopulate whitefish in Lake Michigan by reintroducing them in the Bear River. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave the tribe a $200,000 grant for the project. Through this tribal wildlife grant, the band will conduct habitat surveys to find ideal instream incubation areas in the river. Read the full story by Petoskey News-Review.

The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation announced the recipients of grants through its Sanctuary Community Fund last week. Ideal projects aim to increase conservation efforts and public access, raise awareness about the sanctuary and its heritage, and expand community learning and public outreach. Read the full story by Oswego County News Now.

As the spring fishing season approaches across Central New York, state researchers and tourism leaders have organized workshops to help boat captains prepare for the tourism season in the months ahead on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Read the full story by WAER – Syracuse, NY.