News
Superior’s summer salmon turn on
It has been the summer of salmon on Lake Superior. Anglers have enjoyed a bonanza of Chinook and coho salmon, and the average size has been the best in years, charter fishing captains say. “We’ve probably caught more salmon this year than in the last six combined,” said Steve Johnson of Hard Times charter fishing. “I don’t think we’ve had a better year for kings (Chinooks), and every day they’re getting bigger.” Charter captain Dexter Nelson of First Mate charter fishing concurred. He’s been fishing the lake for 35 years.
USA. Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal to close periodically Oct. 4-8
The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee announces periodic waterway closures on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal each day from October 4 through October 8 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to install underwater structures designed to limit the spread of electric current in the waterway from the barriers that are in place to prevent the passage of Asian carp into the Great Lakes.
Roiling waters cause 25 Great Lakes deaths
Sunny days. Warm water. Sandy beaches. The sweet siren song of summer has turned deadly, with 68 people drowning in Lake Michigan this year. That's the highest number in eight years, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. And 25 drownings this year in the Great Lakes involved rip currents -- the worst year ever, the National Weather Service reports. That is nearly twice the number, 13, who drowned in 2003, the second worst year.
Mich., Wis. to cooperate on climate change issues
Michigan and Wisconsin plan to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and determine the best strategies to adapt to climate change as part of an effort to protect the Great Lakes region. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment announced the agreement Thursday. Michigan DNRE Director Rebecca Humphries in July asked Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank to formalize plans to work together, and a memorandum of understanding was recently signed.
Hurricane Earl rumbles toward North Carolina’s Outer Banks
Hurricane Earl strengthened overnight and is expected to skirt the Outer Banks of North Carolina tonight, as evacuations continue and Labor Day plans are in jeopardy for vacationers up and down the East Coast. As of this morning, Earl was a powerful Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Environmental coalition awards Great Lakes grants
An environmental coalition is giving out about $190,000 to help groups take part in Great Lakes restoration efforts. The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition says the grants announced this week will help 12 conservation groups participate in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The initiative got $475 million in funding last year.
Fishermen tangle over trap nets
The watery expanse to our east stretches past the horizon. An inland sea, it's often called. But at certain times and places, Lake Michigan gets crowded, sometimes with deadly consequence. The June death of a fisherman off Sheboygan has highlighted a user conflict between the lake's sport anglers and commercial fishing interests. Three sportfishing and conservation groups petitioned the Natural Resources Board in August to increase restrictions on trap nets, a type of commercial fishing gear, in an effort to avoid other such tragedies.
Hurricane Earl could approach Carolinas Friday
Hurricane watches are in effect, and evacuations have begun, for areas of North Carolina, and interests northward to New England are urged to monitor the progress of Hurricane Earl. Hurricane watches are in effect, and evacuations have begun, for areas of North Carolina, and interests northward to New England are urged to monitor the progress of Hurricane Earl.
Enbridge is under fire over Michigan oil spill cleanup tactics
WASHINGTON -- The nation's top law enforcement official is being asked to look into whether Enbridge Energy Partners pressured Michigan residents to give up legal rights to sue in exchange for hotel rooms, air purifiers and other expenses in the wake of July's oil spill along a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the chairman of a key House committee also said it appears Enbridge urged residents seeking information about health effects to sign a form giving the company access to a person's complete medical record.
Tall ship offering tours, cruises this weekend in Muskegon
MUSKEGON — Another tall ship will visit Muskegon Friday for tours and cruises this weekend. The Appledore IV will arrive Friday evening and dock at the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum, 1346 Bluff. Free tours are available Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon. The 85-foot-long schooner is based in Bay City. Muskegon is its last stop of the summer touring season.
After 25 years, Lake Michigan refuge fails to nurture wild lake trout
Any lake trout pulled from the wild blue waters of Lake Michigan now was probably born in a government building. That’s despite a 45-year-old, multi-million-dollar program aimed at restoring a self-sustaining, naturally reproducing population of what was formerly the Great Lakes’ top predator. Lake trout were wiped out in most of the Great Lakes by the mid-1900s as a result of overfishing, invasive species and habitat destruction. Managers started stocking them in Lake Michigan in 1965.
Randle Reef project inches forward
The Hamilton Port Authority has submitted the Randle Reef containment design to the federal government for approval, sparking optimism the project to enclose toxic sediment in the harbour will finally go forward. "Thank God," said Jim Hudson, executive-director of the Bay Area Restoration Council (BARC). "We're going forward on a project selected to be the best solution that we can afford." Randle Reef is a shallow area near U.S. Steel's Hamilton Works, heavily contaminated with toxic coal tar. The cleanup plan involves building a containment structure around the worst sediment, then adding less-contaminated mud from other areas of the harbour and capping it to create a shipping pier.
Join us on Facebook