NEMWI’s briefing “21st Century Innovation in Great Lakes Monitoring: Fisheries Science and Technology,” took place on June 10, 2014. Speakers from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center, and Michigan Tech University’s Great Lakes Research Center highlighted the many partners-federal, state, local, tribal, and academia-involved in monitoring the Great Lakes ecosystem, which supports a $7 billion fishery industry. The speakers focused on new technology implemented in the Great Lakes, such as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-funded acoustic telemetry network, which brings new information, like fish movement and behavior, to managers despite more and complex ecosystem stressors. Additionally, the speakers noted that winter weather currently prevents critical observations. A binational Great Lakes wide, year-round hybrid-observatory system could address this “scientific blindness.” Materials available here.
Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs, Sens. Carl Levin (MI) and Mark Kirk (IL) and Reps. Candice Miller (MI-10), John Dingell (MI-12), Sean Duffy (WI-07), and Louise Slaughter (NY-25), were honorary co-sponsors of the briefing.