| FISH HABITAT ASSESSMENT AND RESTORATION IN THE HURON-ERIE CORRIDOR |
| Roseman, Edward F., USGS Great Lakes Science Center, 1451 Green Road
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, 48105-2807, eroseman@usgs.gov
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| The international Huron-Erie Corridor includes southern Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, and western Lake Erie. Conflicting uses of HEC waters for waste disposal, water withdrawals, shoreline development, shipping, recreation, and fishing have resulted in a number of environmental changes to this system including loss and impairment of fish spawning and nursery habitat. As part of the HEC Initiative developed in 2004, a collaborative, science-based adaptive management approach was developed that allows flexibility to address natural resource issues in complex and ever-changing environments. Goals of the HEC initiative include: 1) Restore/improve the ecological function and resilience of the HEC ecosystem, 2) Maintain healthy, diverse, and productive aquatic ecosystems throughout the HEC that will in turn provide societal, economic, and environmental benefits to the Great Lakes region and throughout the U.S. and Canada. Activities of the HEC Initiative include: creation of two fish spawning reefs in the Detroit River and documentation of their use by native fishes including lake sturgeon, walleye, and lake whitefish; assessment of larval fish distribution and abundance in the Detroit River and western Lake Erie to explore connectivity between spawning and nursery areas; and identification of candidate sites for spawning habitat restoration in the St. Clair River. |
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