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Changes in Great Lakes Fisheries: Testing the Theory of Natural Selection

Lake Herring (R. Kinnunen Photo)

Suttons Bay, MI – The Inland Seas Education Association will present a seminar that focuses on the Great Lakes fishery at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, February 22nd, at the Inland Seas Education Center in Suttons Bay. The program will be presented by Randy Claramunt, Fisheries Research Biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. This seminar is free and open to the public.

The Great Lakes ecosystem is constantly changing, which has a large impact on its fishery. Claramunt will describe the special adaptations and beauty of fish that live in the Grand Traverse Bay area, including Chinook salmon, lake trout, and a native cisco thought to be extinct. He will also discuss factors that influence changes in the Great Lakes, what causes the rise and fall of salmon populations, and the future of fishing in our waters.

Randy Claramunt is a Fisheries Research Biologist from the Charlevoix Research Station of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. His interests include the design and implementation of fisheries surveys pertaining to recruitment dynamics of fishes in large freshwater ecosystems. Claramunt’s current work includes statistical analysis of survey data; catch-at-age modeling for lake trout, whitefish, and Chinook salmon; and cooperative multi-agency assessment of predator-prey interactions in Lake Michigan.

The Inland Seas Education Association is a non-profit organization based in Suttons Bay, Michigan, dedicated to science education on the Great Lakes. Its shipboard and shore-side education programs are designed to inspire young people’s interest in science and to provide for the long-term stewardship of the Great Lakes. For further information contact the Inland Seas Education Association at (231) 271-3077 or on the web at www.schoolship.org.