August 23rd, 2013 by Irene Miles
Back in April, we announced an art contest that asked K-12 students to share their ideas of how Lake Michigan could be protected from Asian carp. The results are now in, and three students in the Champaign area have been crowned the winners.
The awards go to Kylie Jackson, a third grader from Mahomet, and Lindsay Donovan and Nicole Dudley, both kindergarteners from Champaign. Each of their drawings depicts different ways to control the spread of Asian carp by keeping eggs from hatching. Kyle, Lindsay, and Nicole were chosen from 67 entries. Drawings were judged on creativity, artistic design, and relevancy to the topic.
The contest, funded by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, is part of ongoing efforts to introduce people to a new modeling tool that resource managers and lawmakers can use to prevent the spread of Asian carp. The model, known as FluEgg, can help decision makers identify where in the Great Lakes the invasive fish could become established. Because carp eggs have to stay afloat to hatch, Asian carp need to spawn in fast-moving streams. In order to thrive in the lakes, they would need access to places where there is a lot of turbulence, such as downstream from dams and spillways. Resource managers can use FluEgg to find those areas where conditions are right and test how effective prevention methods would be.
Developed by University of Illinois researchers Tatiana Garcia and Marcelo Garcia, FluEgg is the first of its kind to consider factors like water temperature and turbulence as well as biological data about early life stages to answer the question of whether Asian carp can become established in the Great Lakes. The model has already revealed that the Sandusky River in Ohio—a tributary to Lake Erie that was though unsuitable for spawning—could be a breeding ground for Asian carp during warm summer months. In the coming months, Tatiana and Marcelo plan to use FluEgg to evaluate more tributaries.
August 21st, 2013 by Irene Miles
Purdue Day at the Indiana State Fair turned out to be a great place for Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant specialists to show off the Asian carp bag toss game. Fair goers of all ages tried their hand at making the shot, and they got to learn more about invasive Asian carp at the same time.
With each throw, Purdue graduate students Zoe Almeida and Allison Hyrcik and IISG specialists Kara Salazar and Angie Archer quizzed the visitors on facts related to Asian carp. Many were eager to learn more and to find out about actions they could take to control the spread of Asian carp.
Attracting close to a million visitors each year, the Indiana State Fair offered specialists the opportunity to talk with Hoosiers from all areas of the state, from the southern border near the Ohio River to the northern part of the state around Lake Michigan. With so many waterways throughout Indiana, visitors to the booth were interested to learn more about invasive species and steps that could be taken to protect the state’s natural resources.
Find out more about invasive species at our website.
August 19th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Aquaculture, the business of raising fish for commercial sale, is a growing part of Indiana’s agriculture practice, and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Kwamena Quagrainie is just one of the people helping to make that possible.
From Purdue University:
“Estimated sales from Indiana fish farms amounted to more than $15 million in 2012, an increase from $3.5 million in 2006, according to the publication Economic Importance of the Aquaculture Industry in Indiana. There are about 50 fish producers in Indiana, compared with 18 just seven years ago.
‘While aquaculture is not the most well-known industry in Indiana’s agriculture sector, it is definitely present and very important to the state’s economy,’ Kwamena K. Quagrainie, aquaculture marketing specialist in Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural Economics, said in the report. He conducted the study with graduate student Megan C. Broughton.
‘The industry has seen steady growth over the past few years, and it is important to know exactly how much economic activity is associated with aquaculture in Indiana,’ Quagrainie said.
Indiana’s aquaculture industry ranges from small-scale producers raising fish in their backyards to large-scale producers growing fish to sell in national and international markets, the report says. The industry includes production of fish for human food, ornamental fish for aquariums and recreational fish that are stocked in private and public ponds and lakes.”
August 15th, 2013 by Irene Miles
A collaboration between Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Metropolitan Planning Council, and several other agencies across Illinois and Indiana, the new Outdoor Water Use Manual is now available from NWPA. Completed as part of a larger goal to help reduce and curb outdoor water use, the manual provides necessary information on discretionary water use, costs to utilities and municipalities, and steps to develop more efficient outdoor water use policies and plans.
The manual comes just as the height of the summer season has led some areas to enact strict watering policies or, in the recent case of Lake Forest, institute a temporary ban on outdoor watering altogether.
Peter Wallers of the NWPA writes on page four of the manual, “The significance of this guide and what separates it from the average lawn care guide is its emphasis on efficient lawn care, using as little water and fertilizer as possible while achieving maximum performance for your lawn.”
By providing information and planning steps for proper water and fertilizer usage, the manual offers not only steps for reducing current use levels, but gives municipalities a way to plan for sustainably meeting their needs well into the future.
For more information about this project and other water usage materials, contact IISG’s Margaret Schneeman.
August 14th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Last week, IISG’s Anjanette Riley and Laura Kammin set sail on Lake Michigan to learn more about plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. Anjanette wrapped up the trip by writing about the experience:
The sampling process started like many do – with a countdown that sets off a whirlwind of action. On three, some in the 5-person crew would hoist a 4-foot-long trawl overboard while another recorded the time, the boat’s location and speed, and the direction and force of the wind. Another person was responsible for adjusting the sails and the boat’s direction to keep it moving at a slow-but-steady speed. The next 30 minutes—as exact as possible—would be a bit calmer. The trawl skimmed the surface of Lake Michigan, trapping everything that crossed its path in a narrow net. And the crew got ready to process the sample. The real work started when the trawl was pulled from water. Everything caught in the net—large and small, natural and man-made—had to be moved to a plastic bottle so its contents could be examined later. It sounds simple enough, but the netting is small and getting tiny beads of plastic or nearly-microscopic animals into the bottle required a multi-step process that took time. Step 1: use a spray gun to get everything out of the net and into a tightly-woven sieve. Step 2: spray everything to one side of the sieve. Step 3: spoon the larger contents into a plastic bottle. Step 4: drain everything else into the bottle. Step 5: pour in some rubbing alcohol. Step 6: label the plastic bottle with the sample number and tape it up to prevent it from spilling. And repeat.
During the three days Laura and I were aboard the sailboat Free at Last, the crew collected 16 samples from all across southern Lake Michigan. With us on the boat was Stiv Wilson, communications director for the plastics research group 5 Gyres, Nick Williamson, an undergraduate research assistant at SUNY Fredonia, and Conor Smith, the ship captain. Together, we made a triangle from the Chicago area to just south of the Wisconsin border to South Haven, Michigan and back, collecting water samples about every hour and a half.
We found bits and pieces of plastic in several of the samples. Most of what we saw were tiny microbeads, like the kind used as exfoliants in face and body washes. On the second day, though, we pulled a plastic cigarette wrapper from the lake. Beyond the reach of the trawl, we also saw balloons, plastic bags and bottle lids, a straw, and a couple other pieces of unrecognizable plastics riding the waves. But these were just the things large enough to be seen. We won’t know for sure how much plastic is in the lake until Sherri Mason and her research team at SUNY Fredonia examine the samples under a microscope over the next few months.
The findings from this trip will be added to the results of previous research excursions on northern Lake Michigan and each of its sister lakes to get a more complete picture of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. Initial results have already revealed that the lakes have a higher concentration than some parts of the world’s oceans, where plastics have been a major environmental concern for years. 
Because plastics float and break down very slowly over time, everything from chemical contaminants to bacteria and invasive species can latch on and catch a ride to new ecosystems. These sampling trips are the first to examine whether the Great Lakes may be facing the same ecological threat.
August 13th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Quagga and Zebra Mussels are well-known names in the Great Lakes region, as these invasive species have already had an effect on marine wildlife. But both species are prevalent in waterways throughout the United States, and fighting their spread could require a boost from the Federal government.
From USA Today:
“The mussels, natives of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, were transported to the U.S. in the ballast water of trans-Atlantic cargo ships. They first appeared in the Great Lakes in the mid-1980s, and between 2000 and 2010, they cost that region’s water users some $5 billion. The invaders have since crossed the Rocky Mountains, likely hitching a ride on a vacationer’s boat (they can survive for weeks out of water).
Their rapid spread threatens water supplies and energy systems in the West, a region heavily dependent upon hydropower and often gripped by drought. In response, state officials have stepped up boat inspections and cleaning efforts in addition to calling for federal help.”
Read the complete article at the link above for more information about the spread of these invasives and how additional funding could help step up the fight against their spread.
August 9th, 2013 by Irene Miles
As you read in yesterday’s blog post, IISG’s Laura Kammin and Anjanette Riley are taking part in a research trip on Lake Michigan this weekend investigating the presence and concentration of microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes.
The Chicago Tribune has more details about the research:
“Calling the lake ‘its own separate little beast,’ Mason said she expects to find high levels of microplastics in Lake Michigan because it borders so many large cities and because water molecules are estimated to swirl around the lake for about 99 years on average before being replaced by water flowing in. Water stays longer only in Lake Superior, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
On Friday the researchers boarded the Niagara at St. Ignace, Mich., and sailed from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan. After a stop in Milwaukee, the ship is scheduled to arrive in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon. Along the way, researchers planned to collect almost 30 samples.
One scientist who sailed on last summer’s research trip is back in her lab, studying the chemicals that may be piggybacking on the microplastics gathered from Superior, Huron and Erie.
The particles ‘work like a sponge’ for pollutants, said Lorena Rios Mendoza, an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Superior. One reason is that microplastics have a large surface area in relation to their size, which means there are plenty of places for the chemicals to stick.”
Read more about the ongoing research at the link above.
August 8th, 2013 by Irene Miles
IISG’s Laura Kammin and Anjanette Riley set sail today on a mission to find plastics in Lake Michigan. The trip is a part of a larger effort to determine if the plastics and microplastics that have been found in the world’s oceans are an issue in the Great Lakes too. Sampling kicked off last year with research trips on Lakes Huron, Superior, and Erie, and the findings came as a bit of a surprise – millions of tiny plastic particles floating in the water in even higher concentrations than in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The first round of sampling revealed that the Lakes are home to between 1,500 and 1.7 million plastic particles per square mile, with Lake Erie housing the largest concentrations. Dr. Sherri “Sam” Mason of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia, Dr. Lorena Rios-Mendoza of University of Wisconsin, and Dr. Marcus Erikson of 5 Gyres Institute have determined that much of the plastic they found was actually microbeads, found in many brands of toothpaste and facial and body scrubs. These tiny pieces of plastic are less than a millimeter in diameter, much too small to be filtered out by wastewater treatment facilities before that water is released into nearby lakes and rivers.
Anjanette and Laura, along with researchers from SUNY at Fredonia and 5 Gyres Institute, are on Lake Michigan this week to see how the plastic load there compares to the other Great lakes. The crew will collect approximately 20 samples between now and August 10 as they zigzag their way across southern Lake Michigan. Dr. Mason will process the samples in the coming months. The research team also plans to extend the project to Lake Ontario and get a second round of samples from Lake Erie later this summer.
August 7th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Researchers at the University of Illinois, working with the USGS and funded in part by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, have developed a modeling system that will help manage and prevent the spread of invasive Asian carp.
From Phys.org:
“The model, called Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator (FluEgg), follows a clutch of eggs over time as they travel downstream. Since carp spawn in turbulent waters, they seek places such as dams and spillways. To establish a large population in the Great Lakes, the carp would have to leave the lakes to spawn in the tributaries where the water moves rapidly, usually downstream from dams and spillways, where there is a lot of turbulence. The eggs have to stay suspended in the current to hatch – if they settle on the bottom, they die.
‘The challenge is, of all those million of eggs, how many of those end up hatching?’ said Marcelo Garcia, the U. of I. professor of civil and environmental engineering who led the project. ‘Our challenge has been to find a way to simulate this process from the spawning point all the way downstream. If the eggs are not kept in suspension, they will not be viable and they will die out. We have a model to look at certain streams – like tributaries to the Great Lakes – and figure out whether those streams are potential areas for Asian carp to reproduce. I think we have put together a tool that is going to be eye-opening, to say the least. It’s going to be a lot easier to visualize the transport and the conditions you need for hatching.'”
Read more about the model at the link above, and read about their outreach project here.
