For Friday, March 3, 2023

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1 – Residents of the Great Lakes state don’t eat the recommended amount of fish. 

Michigan Sea Grant and a consulting firm recently finished a consumer survey on consumption in Michigan. It’s meant to help develop an understanding of markets for local fish and the preferences of residents. 

Researchers say one of the most important findings is that just 17% of us eat fish more than once a week as recommended by the federal Department of Health and Human Services. 

The survey found that 22 percent of people eat fish once a week and more than 60 percent eat fish rarely or never. 

As far as where people get their fish: The top sources were grocery stores and restaurants. Only 16 percent reported catching fish themselves. 

But the survey found that most people prefer their fish come specifically from Michigan. 

More information about local fish products around the Great Lakes region is online at FreshFishFinder.org.

By the way, fish is healthy to eat but you need to limit your consumption in some cases to avoid contaminants like mercury and PFAS.

If you’re buying fish, the health and safety of the product is regulated by state and federal agencies. If you catch fish yourself, refer to the Eat Safe Fish guidelines from the state.

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2 – A binational coalition of mayors is praising proposed spending by Michigan to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes. 

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative notes that governors in Michigan and Illinois have proposed a combined $114 million in state funding to prevent invasive carp from entering the lakes.

Michigan and Illinois are non-federal sponsors of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam Project, a series of structural controls and non-structural measures that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to install near Joliet, Illinois, to hinder the upstream migration of invasive carp.  

A proposed Illinois budget includes $50 million. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s budget includes $64 million. 

The chair of the initiative says the Brandon Road Lock and Dam Project is “absolutely essential to maintaining the ecological and economic well-being of shoreline communities across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin.”

– Mr. Great Lakes is heard Fridays at 9:30 a.m. in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Public Radio 90.1 FM (listen live). Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes

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