TRAVERSE CITY — Protecting the Great Lakes from Asian carp will be the centerpiece of an upcoming water conference.
The third Freshwater Summit will be held Friday at the Hagerty Center in Traverse City. Sessions will include topics that include the Boardman River dams, fish habitats in the Antrim County Chain of Lakes region, and the impact of oil and gas exploration on water quality.
A panel on Asian carp will be the keynote event. Speakers from the Michigan Sea Grant, the U.S. Coast Guard, the International Joint Commission and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians are expected as panelists.
"We try to address the issues of the day," said Andy Knott, executive director of The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, one of the event's hosts. "We really try to look at what's happening around the region."
The Asian carp, an invasive fish species that ecologists worry will threaten native species if it spreads in the Great Lakes, is a timely topic. An effort to close shipping canals is pending in federal court in Chicago, and some environmentalists want to physically separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River.
"With so many of our invasive species, we really don't start reacting until after they've created huge problems for the Great Lakes," said Dan O'Keefe, of the Michigan Sea Grant Southwest District, one of the forum's participants.
"The silver lining is that we're talking about this before they've become established," O'Keefe said.
He plans to talk about the carp's biology and its reproductive habitats. O'Keefe said three potential spawning spots could emerge across the state — the Grand and St. Joseph river systems in West Michigan, western Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay.
Asian carp need access to nutrients and large, uninterrupted rivers to reproduce, he said, in effect requiring a "right place at the right time" scenario.
Other breakout sessions are scheduled throughout the day. One will discuss the restoration of the Boardman River dams. Volunteers with The Watershed Center and the Grand Traverse Conservation District last week planted new tamarack, white pine and red maple trees in the area.
About 700 trees were expected to be planted, said Steve Largent, of the Conservation District.
"Things are happening right now to restore the ecosystem out here," Knott said. "My hope is that this will energize people about protecting the Great Lakes."
A complete list of events is available at www.gtbay.org.
Region
Related Photos
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Steve Rouse, left, and Heather Peyton, volunteers for the Grand Traverse Conservation District, plant new trees near the Lone Pine Trailhead and Boardman River. The goal was to restore native vegetation to the former Boardman Pond. Record-Eagle/Lindsay VanHulle
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Steve Rouse, left, and Heather Peyton, volunteers for the Grand Traverse Conservation District, plant new trees near the Lone Pine Trailhead and Boardman River. Record-Eagle/Lindsay VanHulle
Asian carp keynote of Freshwater conference
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