For Friday, April 16, 2021

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1 – Spring regional fisheries workshops are being held later this month for Lake Huron. 

The online events are open to the public but require free registration.

The workshops will offer current research and information related to the status of the lake’s fisheries. 

Michigan Sea Grant and Michigan State University Extension, in partnership with federal, state agencies and local fishery organizations, offer the events every year to provide information for anglers, charter captains, resource professionals and interested community members.

The Lake Huron workshop workshops are Thursday, April 22, from 6-8 p.m. and Thursday, April 29, from 6-8 p.m.

You also can register for a “Let’s talk fish in Lake Huron” event scheduled from 6-7 p.m. on Thursday, May 6. It’s being put on by Michigan State University Extension, Michigan Sea Grant and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. 

Workshop details and registration links can be found online at bit.ly/MISGFISH.

2 – Have you seen a new public map and data webpage from the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy? 

For the first time, the department has gathered all of its public maps and data in one online location. 

Officials say interest in the new webpage is high; nearly 1,000 people tuned in for a recent webinar on the topic. 

Previously, many of the department’s datasets and mapping applications were only located on division program webpages, usually several layers deep and typically only frequented by industry professionals.

Popular applications on the new page include a wetlands map view and environmental mapper for contaminated sites. 

With the new page, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has joined the state transportation and natural resources department in having an agency-specific open data portal. 

3 – Another sign of spring: Osprey are returning to the Great Lakes region. 

The birds can be seen flying and using their talons to fish along shallow waters in the area. 

But leaders with the Great Lakes regional office of the National Audubon Society say the birds face an uncertain future.

The group says osprey were severely impacted by the use of the pesticide DDT, and listed as a threatened species in Michigan after their population declined in the 1960s. Following restoration efforts, the osprey was successfully re-introduced to southern Michigan and removed from the threatened species list in 2009.

But the bird is still listed as a state species of special concern, with around 200 nest locations throughout Michigan.

Audubon Great Lakes has enlisted help from volunteer community scientists to understand how osprey are rebounding across the state.

So many people signed up for an Adopt-A-Nest monitoring program that registrations are now closed. The program requires at least three nest visits of at least 15-minutes each between May 15 and Aug. 1. 

– Mr. Great Lakes is heard Friday mornings in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Public Radio 90.1 FM (listen). Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes

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