Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s annual magazine.

This issue highlights:

• Swimming Safer: Sharing knowledge, data, and resources
• IISG interns can have invaluable real world experience
• Spelling out nature’s benefits helps inform land use decisions
• Largemouth bass in the busy Chicago River are seeking out natural areas
• Educators explore water quality along the Wild Mile
• We’re funding new research to address emerging coastal issues

The Helm is a collection of recent IISG success stories, describing some of our research, outreach, and education efforts to address coastal and Great Lakes issues in Illinois and Indiana.

This guide provides best practices for charter operators, captains, crew and customers to minimize the risk of COVID-19 for charter fishing in southern Lake Michigan. The guide covers measures that operators and customers can take before, during, and after a fishing trip, including social distancing, cleaning and personal protective equipment.

This document is available through the Purdue University Extension Education Store at https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=ID-520-W.

This guide identifies commonly stocked fish and problem fish that may be encountered in Indiana ponds. It includes full-color pictures and information about sunfishes, other panfish, sport fish, catfishes and bullheads, carp, suckers and buffalo, and minnows and shiners.

For more information, visit https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=FNR-584

This publication brings together program impacts from the 2018-2019 Sea Grant year.

Indiana Master Watershed Stewards are trained volunteers who understand how watersheds work and are willing to help with watershed improvement efforts in their communities. Master Watershed Stewards complete a 12-week training program that pulls together information from scientists, researchers, and watershed management professionals. Topics will include how watersheds function, what factors affect watershed health, how water is managed for human use, and how volunteers can play a part in promoting watershed health and appreciation.

For more detailed information, visit Indiana Master Watershed Steward

The Great Lakes are home to eight species of salmon and trout. These species can be difficult to distinguish from each other as they overlap in their distributions and change appearance depending on their habitat and the time of year. This illustrated, peer-reviewed, two-page guide, courtesy of the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network, shows important body features and helpful tips to identify and distinguish between salmon and trout species in the Great Lakes.

This document is available through the Purdue University Extension Education Store at https://edustore.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=FNR-579-W

This session was one of the largest at the 60th annual IAGLR conference, with 18 oral presentations, 1 poster presentation, and 1 facilitated discussion period. The full list of abstracts (with author contact information) is included as Appendix 1. This session was well-attended throughout the day, with as many as 70 people attending the individual talks.