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Great Lakes Week takes place October 11-14, 2011 and celebrates one of the world's true natural wonders, the five interconnected Great Lakes. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior provide jobs, recreation and drinking water to more than 30 million people in the Great Lakes basin. Great Lakes Week is a new partnership to improve the places around the basin where people live, work, learn and play. This week's activities, meetings and conferences bring representatives of the U.S. and Canadian governments together with a broad coalition of public and private groups to highlight efforts to implement solutions for the lakes' most pressing problems. The event is headquartered in a single city for the first time ever and that city is Detroit.

Detroit Public Television (DPTV), in partnership with the International Joint Commission, the Great Lakes Commission, U.S. EPA, and Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, will be providing unprecedented access to the largest gathering of scientists, political voices, educators, environmentalists, and interested groups ever assembled to discuss the status and the future of the Great Lakes. Coverage starts today at noon at greatlakesnow.org!

Today's coverage kicks off at noon with an overview of Great Lakes Week, highlights of yesterday's Great Lakes Commission Meeting. Also on tap is the International Joint Commission of US and Canadian government agencies, a report on U.S. and Canadian efforts to restore the chemical, physical and biological diversity of the Great Lakes Basin, updates on critical issues from algae to aquatic invasive species and the Great Lakes Town Hall featuring top officials from both the U.S. and Canada answering on-site and virtual audience questions (Twitter hastag #AskGLW). Much more to follow tomorrow and Friday - check the schedule of events out for an idea.

photo credit: KAScott_20110930_3651fhenacb by Ken Scott/a>

We try to post positive stories on Leelanau.com, and there's no question that photos like this strike a chord for many as they think fondle of their childhood fishing memories or teaching their grandchildren how to fish.

I think it's important that everyone spend a little time learning about the major threats facing the Great Lakes from Invasive species. Read on for a great feature from IPR's Peter Payette and a little of Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs exploring a new threat from an invasive species we have been able to control until recently, the sea lamprey.
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The Glen Lake Association (GLA) is one of four recipients of a 2011 National Fish Habitat Action Plan Award, given for extraordinary achievement in Fish Habitat Conservation. GLA lake biologist Rob Karner  explains:

"There are seven GLA projects on which this national award was based. Each is an important part of resource conservation and protection. Without the commitment and oversight by the lake association, water quality and these other environmental initiatives would not exist."

The Glen Lake Association uses numerous outreach and educational campaigns to protect the Glen Lake watershed from aquatic invasive species, physical habitat degradation, and water quality impairment while promoting aesthetic and recreational enjoyment to riparians and the public. Last year the 800 member grassroots organization was named "Michigan Inland Lake Steward of the Year Award" by the Michigan Lake and Stream Associations in 2008.

You can learn about these programs right here. For additional information on the work of the Glen Lake Association and ways to become involved, visit www.glenlakeassociation.com or call 231 334.7645.

Photo Credit: - Glen Lake, Empire, Michigan. by creed_400 - get it background big right here!

Here's some videos from presenters and performers who will be at the Benzie County Water Festival, along with some videos of the beautiful water they'll be talking about!

The First Annual Benzie County Water Festival is a community water celebration that takes place on Saturday, March 18-19 south of us in Frankfort. This will be a unique event designed to engage folks in the stewardship of the Great Lakes and the cultivation of a vibrant and sustainable local culture in our region.

A family-oriented, community-centered program will feature Michigan musicians, speeches from water luminaries (including Tom Kelly of Inland Seas Education Association and GTB Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey), interactive multimedia projects and presentations, artisan foods and beverages, workshops, visual art, theater and dance, children's activities, an ice fishing contest, as well as connections to campaigns and projects protecting our water locally and/or addressing global water challenges.

A highlight is the showing of the showing of the award-winning documentary WATERLIFE on Friday night (March 18) at the Garden Theatre in Frankfort. If you have not seen this extraordinary film and love the Great Lakes YOU SHOULD SEE IT!!!

The Benzie County Water Festival is co-sponsored by the Benzie Conservation District and Absolute Michigan. For more information, check out the Benzie Water Festival Facebook and contact Sarah Louisignau by calling 231-871-1075 or by e-mail.

The first Michigan Water Festival was held on the Straits in Mackinaw City in August of 2006 and attracted 500 people from all over the state. The Water Festival moves around Michigan every year, bringing the message of the vitality of Michigan's water all around the state (there's a video in the series above). Learn more at water-festival.org!

Photo Credit: 'Lighthouse Dawn' Point Betsie Lighthouse, Lake Michigan by Michigan Nut

The Leelanau Enterprise has a feature about a strain of lake herring that just came across my news feed about a Great Lakes fish long thought to be extinct that is making a comeback in Grand Traverse Bay:

A strain of lake herring more commonly seen in the last century in Lake Superior is now thriving in local waters, according to fisheries research biologist Randy Claramunt of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources research station in Charlevoix.

Fishermen who were targeting salmon in Grand Traverse Bay would occasionally find these fish that looked a lot like whitefish – but not quite,” according to Claramunt. “Then, these fish started showing up occasionally in commercial nets.”

It wasn’t until the early 2000’s, Claramunt said, that biologists confirmed the presence of the lost lake herring – and found a spawning population of them on the shoals of East Grand Traverse Bay.

“To the average person it might look identical to whitefish – so I’m sure people are eating them; and we’ve seen some for sale as whitefish through the commercial fishery,” Claramunt said.

Read on at the link above and sorry for missing this at first because Claramunt was doing a public talk that would have been interesting to attend!

Photo courtesy Michigan DNR.

The Inland Seas Education Association will present a seminar that focuses on the Great Lakes fishery at 7 PM next Tuesday, January 11th at the Inland Seas Education Center in Suttons Bay. The seminar is free and open to the public and will be presented by Amanda Holmes, Executive Director of the Fishtown Preservation Society.

The shores of the Great Lakes and their islands were once fringed with commercial fisheries like Leland's Fishtown, where fish were processed for the burgeoning Midwest. As it has been for over a century, Fishtown is still a commercial fishery, although on a smaller scale. Holmes will share her explorations of some of the few remaining fishing operations throughout the Great Lakes, why they have survived, and what they have taught her about the rarity of Fishtown.

Amandais the Executive Director of the Fishtown Preservation Society and holds a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife and a Certificate in Historic Preservation. She has written numerous architectural, landscape, and engineering studies for the National Park Service, as well as published an award-winning history of Omena, Michigan. Her background in Folklore has led her to gather as many stories as possible about Fishtown, and to broaden her scope to capturing the stories of commercial fishing and fishermen from all over the Great Lakes.

The photo is Leland early Fishing Fleet in old Channel by UpNorth Memories - Donald (Don) Harrison and you can see more in his Fishtown slideshow!

The Glen Arbor Sun reprinted a story from Traverse City based Circle of Blue that looks at how Chicago's waterways enable the spread of invasive species. The invasive zebra mussels, discovered in the Great Lakes in 1988 entered the Mississippi via the waterways and have now spread as far west as California and cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in the U.S. every year by fouling the pipes that deliver fresh water to municipal drinking water facilities and power plants.

“We should expect that for many species, the Chicago Area Waterway System is still a very viable conduit,” Keller said. “There’s still a very high likelihood of future invasions, future economic and ecological impacts.”

This is one of the reasons why the Alliance for the Great Lakes supports the permanent hydrological separation of the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River Basin, said Joel Brammeier, the organization’s president.

“Asian carp are only the latest and certainly the most graphic example,” Brammeier said. “But as Dr. Keller mentioned, we’ve already donated zebra mussels and round goby to the Mississippi River Basin, something that I don’t think the other half of the continental United States is too happy about. We can certainly count today half a dozen other invaders in either direction that could move through this system.”

He added, “No technology solution has been demonstrated to be able to provide the kind of certainty against invasion that we think the Great Lakes deserve.

Read the rest, and if you're not familiar with Circle of Blue (founded by Leelanau native J. Carl Ganter), we very much encourage you to put it on your reading list!

Photo credit: "Once Upon A Time by Live Inspired Photography

Over on Absolute Michigan we've posted Michigan Invasive Species: Asian Carp that takes a look at what is likely the greatest threat to fishing in Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes that we've seen. Imported by Mississippi catfish farmers in the 70s, Asian carp escaped during flooding in the 1990s and have marched up the river to the point where their knocking at the door in Chicago (they may have even passed through). Asian Carp and the Great Lakes from the Great Lakes EPA says:

Asian Carp are a significant threat to the Great Lakes because they are large, extremely prolific, and consume vast amounts of food. They can weigh up to 100 pounds, and can grow to a length of more than four feet. They are well-suited to the climate of the Great Lakes region, which is similar to their native Asian habitats.

Researchers expect that Asian carp would disrupt the food chain that supports the native fish of the Great Lakes. Due to their large size, ravenous appetites, and rapid rate of reproduction, these fish could pose a significant risk to the Great Lakes Ecosystem.

Fishing is big business in Leelanau and Michigan and an even bigger part of what makes us a premier tourist destination. I'll leave you with a request to talk with your elected representatives about doing everything they can to stop this invader. Here's a frightening video of Asian carp in action.

Photo Credit: Fish... ! by John Levanen

On May 21 and May 22, enjoy a Fishing Contest, Parade, Music, Old Cars and Finger Food, downtown in the village of Lake Leelanau. For more information, visit lakeleelanaumi.com

Lake Leelanau has not hosted a Walleye Festival since 2006. Read how "the" bartender, Tony, from Dick's Pour House revived the fishing tournament and festival in the Leelanau Enterprise.

This Saturday, April 24, the opening day of trout season, the Northport Sportsmen Club sponsors a fishing derby at the Old Mill Pond in Northport. Fishing is reserved for children, with parents helping them. The club will have two tents overlooking the millpond – one with hot dogs and the other with prizes such as fishing poles and games. Trophies will be awarded to kids catching the largest trout.

Next Saturday, May 1, is their annual Smelt Supper at the Northport Fire Hall. The Northport Sportsmen's Club has been hosting this event for years and they know how to cook smelt and all the trimmings. The dinner and bucket raffle help raise funds for a variety of community projects sponsored by the club. Dinner starts at 4 p.m. and runs until 8 p.m. Adults are $10, children 5-12 are $5 and preschoolers are free.

Photo used by permission from Cheryl Parker Photography.