This quick fact sheet provides highlights of IISG’s work through 2023 with a bi-state perspective.

This quick fact sheet provides highlights of IISG’s work through 2023 with an Indiana perspective.

This quick fact sheet provides highlights of IISG’s work through 2023 with an Illinois perspective.

The role of the Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) is to direct enhanced monitoring and research activities across each of the Laurentian Great Lakes to provide relevant information to address the science priorities of each Lake Partnership (established under the Lakewide Management Annex of the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement). CSMI is an intensive effort to collect information on the health of one Great Lake each year, cycling through the lakes on a five-year period. In 2020/2021, it was Lake Michigan’s turn (over a two-year period due to COVID). This is an executive summary of the 2020/2021 research results and the associated white paper containing more specific information.

This document summarizes work completed by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) during the summer and fall of 2023 in support of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) Annex 2 Lake Michigan Partnership. Specifically, IISG is supporting the Lake Michigan Partnership’s activities to determine science priorities for the Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) 2025 Field Year on Lake Michigan. The work described herein was sponsored by the International Joint Commission and comprised a 2-day in-person workshop plus a follow-up, online survey. Information contained in this report is intended as guidance only. While it is primarily written to help the Lake Michigan Partnership as the group sets research priorities for the 2025 intensive field year, other researchers and entities studying Lake Michigan might find the document useful.

This is the twelfth in a series of consumer guides that describe fish and shellfish farmed in the Midwest region of the United States. (See Hybrid Striped Bass Farmed Fish Fact Sheet,  Freshwater Prawn Farmed Fish Fact Sheet, Largemouth Bass Farmed Fish Fact Sheet, Atlantic Salmon Farmed Fish Fact Sheet, Walleye Farmed Fish Fact Sheet, Yellow Perch Farmed Fish Fact Sheet, Tilapia Farmed Fish Fact Sheet, Rainbow Trout Farmed Fished Fact Sheet, Pacific White Shrimp Farmed Fish Fact Sheet,  American Paddlefish Farmed Fish Fact Sheet, and Channel Catfish Farmed Fish Fact Sheet). The fact sheet also includes culinary characteristics, cooking tips and a recipe for Bluegill Chowder.

References:

1. Pam Fuller, and Matt Cannister, 2023, Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque, 1819: U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL, https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=385, Revision Date: 6/27/2019, Peer Review Date: 4/12/2013, Access Date: 6/17/2023. 
2. National Audubon Society. 2002. National Audubon Society Field Guide to Fishes. Chanticleer
   Press, Inc.
3. Wang, D.H., Jackson, J.R., Twining, C., Rudstam, L.G., Zollweg-Horan, E., Kraft, C., Lawrence, P., Kothapalli, K., Wang, Z., Brenna. J.T. Saturated Branched Chain, Normal Odd-Carbon-Numbered, and n-3 (Omega-3) Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in Freshwater Fish in the Northeastern United States. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2016; 64 (40): 7512-7519. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b03491.
4. Williams, M.C.W., Murphy, E.W., McCarty, H.B., Snyder, B.D., Schrank, C., McCann, P.J., Crimmins, B.S. Variation in the essential fatty acid EPA and DHA in fillets of fish from the Great Lakes region. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 2017; 43(3): 150-160. DOI:10.1016/j.jglr.2017.03.001.
5. Sackett, D. K., Cope, W. G., Rice, J. A., & Aday, D. D. The Influence of Fish Length on Tissue Mercury Dynamics: Implications for Natural Resource Management and Human Health Risk. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2013. 10(2), 638-659. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph10020638.
6. Stevens, A.L., Baird, I,G., McIntryre, P.B. Differences in Mercury Exposure among Wisconsin Anglers Arising from Fish Consumption Preferences and Advisory Awareness. Fisheries Magazine. 2017. DOI: 10.1002/fsh.10013.
7. Ikem, A., Egilla, J. Trace element content of fish feed and bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) from aquaculture and wild source in Missouri. Food Chemistry. 2008. 110(2): 301-309. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.02.003.
8. Health advisory and guidelines for eating fish from Silverwood Lake (San Bernardino County). 2013. California Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.