Lake Erie isn’t just Ohio’s Great Lake, it’s an economic engine for the state, with Ohio now home to one of the largest charter fishing fleets in the region. With about 945 captains, Ohio’s charter boat industry generates an estimated $14.6 million annually through fishing trips, pleasure cruises, and other excursions that encourage Ohioans and visitors alike to connect with one of the state’s greatest natural and economic assets.

Elevated levels of mercury in Minnesota’s fish populations have led to fish consumption advisories. The contamination comes as a result of the environmental mismanagement of local mining operations, which are a significant source of mercury contamination statewide.

For the first time in over a century, lake sturgeon have returned to Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. Earlier this spring, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources identified a three-year-old male lake sturgeon traveling through the Mequon-Thiensville Fishway, the farthest north a lake sturgeon has been spotted since these prehistoric fish disappeared from the Milwaukee River in the late 1800s.