April 18th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Each year the Illinois Lakes Management Association recognizes one outstanding professional or volunteer for their significant contributions to preserving and protecting the quality of Illinois lakes.
The Lake Guardian award, given annually, acknowledges each winner’s career-long efforts to ensure healthy lakes throughout the state of Illinois, and this year Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Pat Charlebois was selected from among several nominees.
Pat’s work on outreach efforts to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species is especially important to protecting Illinois’ waterways. The development of tools to inform boaters, anglers, and the general public about the dangers of these species, as well as best management practices and regulations, continue to be instrumental in protecting delicate ecosystems, and Pat has lead the way in these areas.
To learn more about our work on aquatic invasive species, visit our AIS page.
April 10th, 2013 by Irene Miles
While parents, coaches, and friends gathered around to watch high school anglers show off their catch from a fishing tournament held early this week, IISG’s Sarah Zack was onsite to introduce competitors and on-lookers to simple practices that can prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS). Hosted by the Illini Bass Fishing Club, the event brought high school clubs from across Illinois to Clinton Lake on April 7 to see who could catch the most and the biggest bass. The tournament, one of few held at the high school level each year, gave IISG’s AIS outreach team an important opportunity to talk with young anglers about the threat of AIS to local waterways.
“Talking with the kids now plants that seed for future years,” said Brian Bevill, coach of the Illini Bluffs High School Bass Fishing Club.
During the few hours that IISG was onsite at Clinton Lake, Sarah talked with dozens of anglers and boaters from across Illinois. Frequent announcements from the tournament emcee also reminded the audience of the negative impacts AIS can have on the health of aquatic environments. Many of the people who visited the IISG booth had heard about Asian carp. But fewer people knew about the need to remove, drain, and dry all equipment after a day on the water. Most were also interested in learning about a new Illinois law that makes it illegal to drive with plants or mud still clinging to boats and trailers.
This High School Open is one of many fishing tournaments IISG’s AIS outreach team plans to attend this year in both Illinois and Indiana. This season especially, the team hopes to reach out to more amateur and semi-professional anglers with information about how they can prevent the spread of invasive species.
“These anglers want to make sure they’re doing their part to prevent the spread of AIS because they know that is an important part of preserving the sport of fishing for the future,” said Sarah. “It is encouraging that the message is being embraced. I was especially excited to work with the Illini Bass Fishing Club because of their commitment to AIS prevention.”
“We started this because we wanted to show kids in high school that if they care about fishing enough, and work hard enough, they can take it somewhere,” said Luke Stoner, executive administrator for the club. “What we really like to see are smiling faces and big old bass.”
This year, 134 students fought to catch the most and biggest fish. For many of the teams, the tournament marked their first day on the water this season. But after months of casting practice and learning how to “flip and pitch” the lure to trick the bass into biting, the student anglers were prepared.
Three teams brought in bags of fish weighing more than 17 lbs, and three fish came in at over 6 lbs. Their successes at this event will help students qualify to compete in sectional and state competitions slated for later this year.
“The competition in fishing is unlike any other sport,” said Kyle Sweet, a senior at Illini Bluffs High School in Glasford, IL. “In football, for example, you only play one other team at a time. Here we are competing with 67 teams and the fish at the same time.”
March 11th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, along with several other Sea Grant programs, universities, and researchers, have been involved in advising and establishing a number of aquaculture operations in the U.S. and around the world, including some aquaponics facilities. This video from our friends at Purdue University provides a terrific amount of detail about aquaponics and how the process could help sustainably grow food.
With the ability to grow plants and fish in a mutually beneficial system, aquaponics presents an especially viable and sustainable option to provide healthy and locally grown food for urban areas.
From The Atlantic Cities:
“Aquaponics is a method of combined fish and vegetable farming that requires no soil. The farmer cultivates freshwater fish (aquaculture) and plants (hydroponics) in a recirculating water system that exchanges nutrients between the two. Wastewater from the fish serves as organic fertilizer for the plants, while the plants clean the water of fish feces and urine. The net result: a 90 percent reduction in freshwater use compared with conventional fish farming, and a significant reduction in added nutrients such as fossil fertilizers. The system can be run without pesticides and, because the fish environment is spacious and clean, without antibiotics…
In the lab, the pumps made gushy sounds at regular intervals. The water dripped. As the plants’ leaves evaporated moisture, I could hear the place breathe. I picked a ripe, red tomato from a vine. This lab, I sensed, could morph into an urban oasis: a lush, breathing organism inside the city. Unlike static green spaces like parks, this would be an actual farm as well as a place of tranquility in the city — not to mention a space that could generate the food to feed that city, with minimal harm to the environment or human health, just steps from residents’ tables.”
Follow the link above to the complete article, and visit our aquaculture webpage for more information.
March 8th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Last month, representatives from eight Sea Grant programs attended a two-day workshop in Jacksonville, FL hosted by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. Designed as an opportunity for specialists, educators, and communicators to build a national partnership on reducing pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the nation’s waterways, the event was a first step in working towards coordinating these efforts.
Funded by the NOAA National Sea Grant Office, the workshop brought together a wide range of input from people who have extensive experience working on the issue of PPCPs in waterways, allowing for a tremendous collaboration.
Out of the two-day workshop came a unified message: The ways people choose to use and dispose of PPCPs impacts water quality everywhere.
In months to come, workshop participants will continue to work together to develop programs that carry that message to local communities.
“This is a national problem that requires local action. Sea Grant’s new working group is well-suited to tackle this issue because each program is trusted in their communities,” said Laura Kammin, IISG pollution prevention program specialist. “We are sharing our resources to create a strong and effective national partnership.”
The meeting also provided an opportunity for representatives from New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant programs to mentor others by sharing their award-winning work on reducing PPCPs in the Great Lakes basin. These and other discussions opened the door for collaboration with the North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, and Southern California Sea Grant programs.
IISG has been providing communities with information about how to start safe, legal medicine collection programs since 2006. So far, IISG has helped 63 communities in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan with single-day or permanent collection programs, ensuring the proper disposal of 9.65 million pills (81,813 pounds of unused medication).
For more information on IISG’s efforts to spread the word about proper use and disposal of PPCPs visit www.unwantedmeds.org.
February 22nd, 2013 by Irene Miles
Danielle Hilbrich from the IISG aquatic invasive species (AIS) outreach team attended the Indianapolis Boat, Sport, and Travel Show at the Indiana State Fair Grounds in Indianapolis, IN, February 15-17. Danielle teamed up with the Indiana DNR to host a booth and educate recreational water users about the dangers posed by invasive species. Danielle talked with more than 800 attendees about AIS, and handed out hundreds of stickers and brochures. Many show attendees regularly boat on lakes infested with invasive species and were aware of problems that Zebra Mussels, Eurasian Watermilfoil, Hydrilla, and other invasive species can cause for aquatic ecosystems.
Attendees were educated about the proper techniques to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, which include these simple steps: INSPECT and REMOVE any aquatic plants or animals from boats and recreational equipment, DRAIN all water from equipment, DISPOSE of unwanted live bait or fish into the trash, DRY equipment thoroughly, and never release organisms from one waterbody to another. One show-goer was surprised to find out that dumping bait in the trash was a way to prevent the spread of invasive species, and several others were glad to learn just how easy it could be to help keep these species from spreading to other waterways.
February 18th, 2013 by Irene Miles
IISG’s Caitie McCoy attended the Seventh International Conference on Remediation of Contaminated Sediments last week to present her community outreach work with the Great Lakes Legacy Act (GLLA). The conference traditionally features environmental scientists and engineers, but that is changing. “We are starting to see more attention paid to community engagement at these types of conferences,” Caitie tells us. “Technical project managers realize that projects are easier to implement when the community understands and supports the work, and so they’re eager to learn from professionals who specialize in community engagement and stakeholder involvement.”
Caitie presented a poster on her educational program in northwest Indiana, which taught students about the GLLA sediment cleanup at Roxana Marsh on the Grand Calumet River. Instead of presenting a typical scientific poster full of text and graphs, Caitie displayed a mural that her fourth grade students made to represent the Roxana Marsh ecosystem.
“Some of my colleagues were a bit skeptical about me presenting a fourth grade mural to a bunch of technical folks, but I’m not afraid to shake things up,” Caitie said. “I wanted to use something eye-catching that would draw people’s attention toward my poster.” And it worked. Caitie was visited non-stop during the session and talked to more than 100 conference attendees about her program. When asked if she thought her poster made an impact, Caitie replied, “I would never have dreamed that someday engineers would be asking me how to replicate my educational program at their sites, so I take that as a big success.”
Caitie will expand her programming throughout the Grand Calumet River community in 2013, as the Legacy program begins another phase of dredging this summer.
February 13th, 2013 by Irene Miles
The Sheboygan River, which was dubbed an “Area of Concern” in the 1980s for its high levels of environmental pollution and degradation, has just completed the final stages of a dredging project to clean and restore the river.
Approximately 300,000 cubic yards of sediment (equivalent to 15,000 dump trucks full) contaminated with PCBs and PAHs were removed from the river between August 2012 and early January 2013. As a result, river-goers will enjoy a deeper river with better navigation and access, and a cleaner habitat for fish and wildlife to thrive.
IISG’s Caitie McCoy worked with a local team throughout 2012 to provide information to stakeholders and the public on the project. She completed a study in March (PDF) with University of Illinois student Ada Morgan to learn how to communicate the sediment remediation project and its benefits to the public. The study helped the team tailor outreach products and messaging for everyone who uses and visits the river.
Work on the Sheboygan river will continue through 2013 to improve fish and wildlife habitats, both nearshore and underwater. “The dredging and habitat work are the last remaining actions necessary to take Sheboygan off a list of most polluted places in the Great Lakes,” wrote Caitie. “This has been an enormous team effort by the U.S. EPA and their partners, and we can’t thank the community enough for their support during the cleanup.”
February 7th, 2013 by Irene Miles
IISG’s Aquaculture Marketing Specialist Kwamena Quagrainie, who also directs the aquaculture economics and marketing program at Purdue University, was recently promoted to the position of Clinical Engagement Assistant Professor in Agricultural Economics. Dr. Quagrainie has been involved for many years in aquaculture marketing and outreach, helping numerous aquaculture operations get started or expand their business throughout the Midwest. He has also been involved in international efforts to promote and foster aquaculture operations throughout several African nations.
The Clinical Engagement professorship emphasizes transfer of applied research results to aquaculture communities small and large. The goal of this position is to promote active engagement in a field, which is the type of work that Dr. Quagrainie has been directly involved in for many years now. This promotion will give him even more opportunities to bring his expertise to aquaculture producers–helping businesses and communities grow.
February 5th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and 30 years of working to protect and preserve the beauty and resources of Lake Michigan. But what is some of that work? What are some of the things that IISG does to understand, restore, and celebrate our Great Lakes resources?
We’re glad you asked. Our latest publication features 30 milestone achievements selected from the last three decades, all detailing ways that we support our mission to improve and protect the southern Lake Michigan area.
Visit the link to download your own copy of our 30 milestones, or contact us if you would like print copies to share with. And here’s to the next 30 years of keeping our Great Lakes great!
