Great Lakes fish migrations

For the last few years, we have been studying the massive breeding migrations of suckers and other native species into tributaries of the Great Lakes. Almost all of these native migrants are iteroparous, meaning that they breed repeatedly throughout their lives. We are addressing a variety of issues related to the ecology and conservation of these native fish runs, including nutrient subsidies, disease dynamics, contaminant transport, site fidelity and population differentiation, long-term population trends, and fisheries. Past field work has focused on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The overall goal of this project is to inspire greater understanding and public appreciation of these remarkable runs, which rival more famous great migrations around the world. This project represents a collaboration with Dave Allan and The Nature Conservancy's Michigan office, and is currently being expanded to include Wisconsin tributaries.
Fish on the run
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This site highlights migratory fish conservation and research in the Great Lakes Basin
Project press: