For Friday, Feb. 28, 2025

1 – Saginaw Bay is among the best ice fishing destinations in the United States. 

The bay is listed as No. 4 on a Top 10 list from FishingBooker.com, a site billed as the world’s largest online marketplace for finding and booking fishing trips. 

The listing says the bay is “a popular Lake Huron fishery regardless of the season” that “really shines once the waters are all frozen.”

Walleye is the main delicacy, the site says, and the fish are abundant and come in good sizes. 

Sites in the top three spots are in Colorado, Maine and Minnesota. 

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2 – The University of Michigan is using $5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to help make wave and offshore wind energy more reliable, quieter and easier to test. 

The funding will support projects to strengthen mooring lines, reduce noise from offshore wind turbines, and improve the way ocean energy devices are tested before hitting the water.

Mooring lines anchor floating energy devices to the ocean floor, keeping them in place despite powerful waves and currents. 

U-M researchers are developing shock absorbers to help these lines last longer, while also generating small amounts of electricity for sensors that monitor the system. 

Other projects will create sound barriers to protect marine life and improve lab testing methods that mimic real ocean conditions.

While U-M is leading the research, the technologies are designed for oceans, not the Great Lakes. 

Those involved say the innovations could help marine energy take off as a larger part of the renewable energy mix, with U-M working alongside national labs and universities. Researchers say the total available power in ocean waves in the United States is equivalent to nearly 60% of the electricity currently produced here. 

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3 – The Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundation in Birmingham is making a major commitment to the future of the Great Lakes and other key causes, pledging to spend its remaining $350 million over the next decade. 

A big focus will be expanding support for Great Lakes protection beyond Southeast Michigan and Bayfield, Ontario, helping to sustain the entire ecosystem. 

Environmental justice and climate change will guide the work, the foundation says, ensuring long-term benefits for communities and businesses connected to the lakes.  

Organizations interested in learning more about the foundation’s grantmaking areas, guidelines, or how to apply for funding can visit erbff.org.

Update: February 2025 Grants List totals $10.6 million – https://www.erbff.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Grants-List-Feb.-25.pdf

– Mr. Great Lakes is heard at 6:45 and 8:45 Friday mornings on Delta College Public Radio 90.1 FM in University Center, Michigan, near Bay City (listen live). Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes

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