Great Lakes Fisheries Policy and Management: A Binational Perspective
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Great Lakes Fisheries Policy and Management: A Binational Perspective
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781611860245 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Michigan State University Press |
| Publication date: | 12/01/2012 |
| Edition description: | New Edition |
| Pages: | 880 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 1.50(d) |
About the Author
Abigail J. Lynch is University Distinguished Fellow with the Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University.
Nancy J. Leonard is currently the Northwest Power and Conservation Council’s Fish, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Monitoring and Evaluation Manager.
Read an Excerpt
GREAT LAKES FISHERIES POLICY & MANAGEMENT
A BINATIONAL PERSPECTIVEMichigan State University Press
Copyright © 2013 Michigan State UniversityAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61186-024-5
Chapter One
The Great Lakes: An Overview of Their Formation, Geology, Physics, and ChemistryRussell A. Moll, Cynthia Sellinger, Edward S. Rutherford, Jennifer Lee Johnson, Michael Ryan Fainter, and John E. Gannon
The Laurentian Great Lakes are the crown jewels of the freshwater systems of North America. These five large lakes, their associated lakes, and their connecting channels (fig. 1) hold about 23,000 km3 of water—enough to cover the contiguous United States to a depth of about 3 meters (Great Lakes Environmental Atlas 1995). They comprise a series of ecosystems unique in the world and are the subject of considerable study, regulation, and observation. They also possess physical, chemical, and biological characteristics unique among all the largest lakes on the planet. Yet, for all their immense size and grandeur, the Great Lakes have not been protected from anthropogenic perturbations, which have changed them on a basin-wide scale.
The fishes of the Great Lakes, like all the aquatic flora and fauna, are completely dependent on their surroundings for their long-term survival. The primary objective of this chapter is to provide a broad-brush review of the key non-biological aspects of the Great Lakes that, in turn, provide the essential habitat for fishes. Without the unique geology, physics, and chemistry of the lakes, as described in this chapter, the likewise unique fishes of the lakes could not survive or continue to evolve.
This chapter includes three sections: Lake Formation and Geology, Overview of the Great Lakes' Physical Characteristics, and Great Lakes Water Chemistry. These sections discuss a wide variety of topics but place emphasis on changes to the Great Lakes over the past forty years. Examples used in this chapter come from all five Great Lakes but do not cover every aspect of the geology, physics, or chemistry for each lake. Representative information is presented to demonstrate general trends of the Great Lakes with the understanding that each Great Lake has followed a different course in the past two hundred years. Each section is intended to provide background information that, in turn, sets the stage for the richer discussion of Great Lakes fishes found in the succeeding chapters.
Despite their immense size, the Great Lakes have been irreversibly changed. Human induced impacts have touched virtually every aspect of the Great Lakes, including its habitats, landscape, and water chemistry. The chapters that follow illustrate how demographics, landscape changes, climate change, non-native species introductions and invasions, contaminants, fish diseases, massive fishing pressure, and regulatory missteps have led to the demise of the Great Lakes, in general, and many fish species, in particular. The crises induced by anthropogenic activities in the mid-twentieth century forced the hands of the two nations that border the Great Lakes, the United States and Canada, to create a more sustainable approach to managing these huge ecosystems.
Today, we greatly benefit from a thoughtful and carefully crafted ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach in the Great Lakes region (see box). The formation of EBM is proving as important to the survival of Great Lakes fishes as the non-biological aspects of the lakes. Just as the physics and water chemistry of the Great Lakes have changed for the better in the last half-century, so too has our management evolved.
Lake Formation and Geology
The Great Lakes provide a rich diversity of habitats derived, in great part, from a diverse geology. Although geologically very young, these habitats contribute greatly to contemporary Great Lakes fish populations.
The Laurentian Great Lakes were formed between twenty thousand and fourteen thousand years ago, by the massive Laurentide glacial ice sheet that covered most of Canada and extended to the southern end of the present Great Lakes basin. This glacial ice sheet, which originally formed approximately one hundred thousand years ago and was almost 4 km thick at its peak (Fulton and Prest 1987), advanced and retreated over several thousands of years, scouring out the Great Lakes in the process.
Because melt waters from the glaciers flowed in various directions throughout the course of glaciations, a wide variety of patterns of major lakes and rivers occurred in the Great Lakes region during this time (Larson and Schaetzl 2001). Each advance and retreat of the glaciers changed the formation of the basin, until, eventually, the Great Lakes developed into the system recognized today. Over time, large lakes (given the names of Lake Maumee, Lake Chicago, Lake Iroquois, Lake Algonquin, and Lake Nipissing by palegeologists) formed on the landscape now occupied by the present five Great Lakes (Damery 2004). The history of these various periods in Great Lakes formation can be discovered through a variety of glacial moraines and beach lines in the region. The latter, created by rapidly changing water levels, as historic large lakes were formed and drained by the movement of the ice.
Although the formation of the Great Lakes is relatively recent, the underlying geology of the region is of considerable maturity. Bedrock formations within the region were largely formed in the Paleozoic Era, some three hundred to five hundred million years ago (Bolsenga and Herdendorf 1993). These Paleozoic rocks form the outcrops that are mainly metamorphic and igneous (Precambrian), undifferentiated (Cambrian and Ordovician), dolomites (Silurian), and shales and limestones (Devonian) (Hough 1958). Erosional activities over millennia have cut into the bedrock to varying levels and, hence, the depth of the various basins of the Great Lakes differs. One of the more salient features of Great Lakes geology is a large area of rock known as the Pre-Cambrian Shield or Canadian Shield. The area is approximately eight million square kilometers and extends through eastern and central Canada and into a small portion of the United States. This area of largely exposed granitic rock with very thin soil coverage was formed during the Precambrian Era.
The combination of unconsolidated glacial sediment and consolidated Paleozoic rock of the Great Lakes region provides a variety of pathways for water to flow in and out of the lakes. The most common pathway for water to flow into the lakes is as precipitation that lands directly on the surface of the lake or lands in its basin and, subsequently, runs-off into the lake. Additionally, the Great Lakes' complex geologic framework also allows precipitation that lands in the basin to infiltrate the soil, percolate to the groundwater table (Sellinger 1995), and enter the lakes through discharge areas located on both the sides and the bottoms of the lakes (Ruberg et al. 2005). Therefore, this multifaceted geologic setting not only provides complex pathways for water to enter and exit the lakes, but it also provides a multitude of habitats for the lakes' biota.
Geologic Uplift
Since the glacial retreat of the Pleistocene time period, landmasses in the Great Lakes region have been slowly uplifting (Horton and Grunksy 1972). This uplifting is based on the principle of isostasy, which states that land masses must maintain an equilibrium within the earth's crust. A tremendous weight, such as a glacier, can theoretically force localized landmasses downward into the earth's crust, once a compensatory equilibrium is achieved. Once that weight is removed, as a result of glacial retreat, landmasses rebound upward to regain pre-glacial elevation (Quinn and Sellinger 1990). Because of the varying thickness of ice cover over the Great Lakes region, differential isostatic rebound rates are location specific (table 1). This uplifting over thousands of years has been partially responsible for changes in the drainage patterns of the Great Lakes and, subsequently, in the present biota habitats.
Relic Species
As the Great Lakes changed over geologic time, so too did the communities of organisms the lakes supported. Some species have persisted within the basin but with a very restricted range with changing ecological conditions. Relic species include a wide diversity of flora and fauna, such as plants (e.g., sword moss Bryoxiphium norvegicum), insects (e.g., Hungerford's crawling water beetle Brychius hungerfordi), and vertebrates (e.g., Lake Sturgeon) that, in essence, are holdovers from the last glaciation (Habel and Assmann 2010). For the fishes of the Great Lakes, two of the most important relic species are Mysis diluviana and Diporeia spp., key fish forage (Balcer et al. 1984; GLERL 2006).
When considering past and present fish populations, the geologic history of the Great Lakes played a large role in shaping community structure. The complex morphometry of each Great Lake's main basin provides a rich variety of habitats for fishes. In addition, the presence of connecting rivers and channels, bays, marshes, large shallows, almost every conceivable bottom type, and extensive pelagic areas further contribute to the vast diversity of habitats supporting Great Lakes fishes.
Overview of the Great Lakes' Physical Characteristics
A unique aspect of the Great Lakes is their complex and diverse physical characteristics. Many of these characteristics are found only in large lakes of the world and play an important role in creating diverse aquatic habitats for fishes. The currents, movement of water between basins, seasonal temperature patterns, vertical thermal structure, internal and surface waves, and seiches all contribute to the astounding complexity of the Great Lakes' physical environment. These physical features are the underpinnings of the aquatic habitat that forms the physical environment for aquatic life. Because of the interdependency of fish populations on the physics of the Great Lakes, this overview of the Great Lakes' physical characteristics has an emphasis on those factors most important to Great Lakes flora and fauna.
Physical processes that occur in the Great Lakes influence both the distribution and concentration of chemicals, nutrients, and biological communities. Processes, such as water movement, which are important to the distribution of benthos and plankton, are ultimately responsible for the location of Great Lakes fishes, which feed heavily on this biota. Additional physical processes, such as light penetration and water temperature, are also responsible for the location and abundance of Great Lakes biota. Temperature, which varies because of the latitude and depth of a particular lake, influences the distribution and abundance of Great Lakes invertebrate fauna. Simply put, the lakes higher in latitude and deeper in depth have different zooplanktonic and zoobenthic fauna than the shallow waters of Green Bay, Saginaw Bay, and Lake Erie partially because of cooler temperatures.
Water level changes, although not as dynamic as wind-driven waves, also affect the biota's habitats. Variations in water levels on a seasonal, decadal, or geologic timescale affect coastal wetlands, shore erosion, re-suspension of sediments, and water column depth.
Underlying these physical processes is basin morphology. Not only do latitude and depth determine water temperature, but climatic patterns and water abundance are geographically specific. This section includes an explanation of basin morphology, or watershed dimensions, to provide an explanation of how water is maintained in the Great Lakes (the water budget) and concludes with examples of processes responsible for water movement.
Watershed Dimensions and Lakes
The Great Lakes basin covers approximately 754,100 km2 of North America and Canada, and it encompasses an ecosystem that includes a combination of massive water bodies and watersheds populated with urban centers, suburbs, and rural agriculture, as well as forests, wetlands, and wildlife. The five Laurentian Great Lakes rank among the seventeen largest lakes in the world, ranging in size from Lake Ontario with a surface area of 18,960 km2, to Lake Superior with a surface area of 82,100 km2 (table 2; Herdendorf 1982). Among all freshwater lakes, Lake Superior is the largest in surface area (Herdendorf 1982).
Of the five Laurentian Great Lakes and their connecting channels, Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Ontario all have maximum depths greater than 200 m. Furthermore, of the large lakes of the world, Lake Superior ranks among the fifty lakes with depths of 283 m or greater (Herdendorf 1982).
Often dubbed one massive river system, because water flows from the headwaters of Lake Superior, through the other Great Lakes, and, eventually, out to the Atlantic Ocean, Great Lakes water is constantly on the move. Not only does an individual lake receive water from the upstream lakes, but the Great Lakes basin land area, which is approximately 508,830 km2 (table 2), is composed of 121 watersheds that discharge water directly to the lakes or through their tributaries. Table 2 also shows that, except for Lake St. Clair, the land area of each Great Lake basin is between two and three times the water area. Compared to many other lake watersheds, this is a very small land area to water area ratio (Wetzel 1983).
Lake Superior has the highest elevation and is the largest and deepest of the Great Lakes. Its basin area covers 28 percent of the total Great Lakes basin and its water accounts for 54 percent of all of the basin's water (Herdendorf 1982). Water flows from Lake Superior to Lake Huron through the St. Marys River (fig. 1).
Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake located solely within the United States, affording its title as the largest lake in the continental United States. Its basin area covers 23 percent of the total Great Lakes basin, and its water volume accounts for 22 percent of the total water supply. Flows out of Lake Michigan are through the Chicago Diversion and the Straits of Mackinac. Major water exchange occurs through the Straits of Mackinac's broad, deep channel with net easterly flows into Lake Huron (Saylor and Sloss 1976).
Lakes Michigan and Huron are hydraulically connected through the Straits of Mackinac, have the same water level, and are hydraulically considered the same lake. Lake Huron is the second largest Great Lake in surface area and is located in the central portion of the Great Lakes basin. Lake Huron accounts for 25 percent of the total Great Lakes basin area, as well as 15 percent of the total water volume (Herdendorf 1982). Outflows from Lake Huron are discharged into the St. Clair River and, subsequently, to Lake St. Clair.
Although not considered a Great Lake, Lake St. Clair receives outflows from Lakes Michigan and Huron and, therefore, is part of the Great Lakes system. It accounts for 0.1 percent of the total basin area and less than 1 percent of the total volume of water (Herdendorf 1982). Lake St. Clair outflows into another connecting channel, the Detroit River, which flows into Lake Erie.
Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes; it is the only Great Lake in which the greatest depth is above sea level (Great Lakes Basin Commission 1975). It accounts for 12 percent of the total basin area and 2 percent of the entire Great Lakes water volume (Herdendorf 1982). Lake Erie discharges to Lake Ontario through the Niagara River and the Welland Canal.
Lake Ontario is second in depth to Lake Superior. With the smallest surface area of the Great Lakes, Lake Ontario accounts for 11 percent of the total basin area and 7 percent of the total water volume (Herdendorf 1982). Outflows are into the St. Lawrence River and onward to the Atlantic Ocean.
(Continues...)
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Table of Contents
Foreword Chris Goddard ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Part 1 The Great Lakes Region
The Great Lakes: An Overview of Their Formation, Geology, Physics, and Chemistry Russell A. Moll Cynthia Sellinger Edward S. Rutherford Jennifer Lee Johnson Michael Ryan Fainter John E. Gannon 3
Demographic and Economic Patterns in the Great Lakes Region Richard Groop 31
Issues Affecting Fish Habitat in the Great Lakes Basin Daniel B. Hayes 51
Landscape Change and Its Influences on Aquatic Habitats and Fisheries in the Great Lakes Basin Kevin Wehrly Lizhu Wang Dana Infante Christine Joseph Arthur Cooper Les Stanfield Edward S. Rutherford 81
Fishes and Decapod Crustaceans of the Great Lakes Basin Brian M. Roth Nicholas E. Mandrak Thomas R. Hrabik Greg G. Sass Jody Peters 105
Recent Changes in Successional State of the Deep-Water Fish Communities of Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario and Management Implications Randy L. Eshenroder Brian F. Lantry 137
Fish Species at Risk and Non-Native Fishes in the Great Lakes Basin: Past, Present, and Future Nicholas E. Mandrak Becky Cudmore 167
Contaminants in Great Lakes Fish: Historic, Current, and Emerging Concerns Cheryl A. Murphy Satyendra P. Bhavsar Nilima Gandhi 203
Current Status of Fish Health and Disease Issues in the Laurentian Great Lakes: 2005-2010 Mohamed Faisal Carolyn A. Schulz Thomas P. Loch Robert K. Kim John Hnath Gary Whelan 259
Part 2 Great Lakes Fisheries
Multi-Jurisdictional Management of the Shared Great Lakes Fishery: Transcending Conflict and Diffuse Political Authority Marc Gaden Chris Goddard Jennifer Read 305
Great Lakes Commercial Fisheries: Historical Overview and Prognoses for the Future Travis O. Brenden Russell W. Brown Mark P. Ebener Kevin Reid Tammy J. Newcomb 339
Great Lakes Recreational Fisheries and Their Role in Fisheries Management and Policy Sarah A. Thayer Andrew J. Loftus 399
Aquaculture in the Great Lakes Ted R. Batterson 441
Great Lakes Fisheries Law Enforcement Edmund F. McGarrell Michael Suttmoeller Carole Gibbs 455
Part 3 Fisheries Case Studies
Managing Inherent Complexity for Sustainable Walleye Fisheries in Lake Erie Edward F. Roseman Richard Drouin Marc Gaden Roger L. Knight Jeffrey Tyson Yingming Zhao 475
Rehabilitation of Lake Sturgeon in the Great Lakes: Making Progress Bruce Manny Lloyd Mohr 495
Re-Establishing Lake Trout in the Laurentian Great Lakes: Past, Present, and Future Andrew M. Muir Charles C. Krueger Michael J. Hansen 533
Regulation of Sport Fishery Harvest of Lake Trout: Use of Size Limits in New York's Waters of Lake Ontario Charles C. Krueger Steven R. LaPan Clifford P. Schneider Tomas H. Eckert 589
Pacific Salmonines in the Great Lakes Basin Randall M. Claramunt Charles P. Madenjian David F. Clapp 609
Sea Lamprey Control: Past, Present, and Future Michael J. Siefkes Todd B. Steeves W. Paul Sullivan Michael B. Twohey Weiming Li 651
Alewife in the Great Lakes: Old Invader-New Millennium Robert O'Gorman Charles P. Madenjian Edward F. Roseman Andrew Cook Owen T. Gorman 705
Double-Crested Cormorants in the Laurentian Great Lakes: Issues and Ecosystems Mark S. Ridgway David G. Fielder 733
Part 4 Outlook for the Future
Aquatic Invasive Species Risks to the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins: Asian Carp as a Case for Serious Consideration of Hydrologic Separation Jerry L. Rasmussen Henry A. Regier Richard E. Sparks William W. Taylor 767
Epilogue: Fisheries Sustainability and Water Policy: The Need to Think Beyond the Basin Boundaries William W. Taylor Katrina B. Mueller James T. Martin 787
Contributors 793
Index 805