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To the Proceedings of the Special Session of the 32nd Conference on Great Lakes Research, “Fish Community Health: Monitoring and Assessment in Large Lakes.”
J. Great Lakes Res. 16(4):494 Internal. Assoc. Great Lakes Res., 1990
PROLOGUE to the Proceedings of the Special Session of the 32nd Conference on Great Lakes Research, "Fish Community Health: Monitoring and Assessment in Large Lakes."
In their Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries, the agencies with primary responsibility for fishery administration, management, assessment, and research recommended that the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) develop a habitat advisory capability. To achieve this capability, the Commission established a Habitat Advisory Board (HAB) in 1984 and charged the Board to identify and address current and emerging habitat issues that may affect the achievement of fishery goals. The Board, under the leadership of Murray Johnson (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) and Bill Pearce (New York Department of Environmental Conservation), planned to create short-term task groups to address specific topics, then receive their reports, pass the recommendations on to the GLFC and fishery agencies, discharge the task group, and proceed to the next issue. No such luck. The first task group formed was to address two aspects of Fish Community Health; the significance of tumors in fish (including whether consumption of tumor-bearing fish was harmful to humans), and identification of healthy fish communities. There were no simple answers, and the team of Jack Black (Roswell Park Memorial Institute), Vic Cairns and Peter Hodson (Fisheries and Oceans Canada), David Evans (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources), and Steve Spigarelli (Bemidji State Vniversity) put forth great effort under task group chairman Wayne Willford (V.S. Environmental Protection Agency). After several internal drafts addressing identification of healthy and unhealthy fish communities were rejected by the task group, Steve Spigarelli concluded that the information sources and opinion bases must be broadened. In desperation the task group agreed, and Steve, Peter, and Dave organized the special session held at the 32nd Conference on Great Lakes Research. The quality of the presentations exceeded our expectations and the large, crowded audience was extremely receptive and appreciative. This session, "Fish Community Health: Monitoring and Assessment in Large Lakes," followed naturally in a series of committees, symposia, and initiatives sponsored by the International Joint Commission and/ or the GLFC to identify and measure ecosystem health: Water Quality Objectives, Scientific Basis of Water Quality Criteria, Contaminant Effects on Fisheries, Biological Indicators of Ecosystem Quality, Lake Trout and Ecosystem Health, Biological Surrogates in Mesotrophic Systems, How Clean Is Clean, and Fish Community Objectives. With this publication and the promise of early publication of "Gross signs of tumors in the Great Lakes fish: A manual for field biologists," the Fishery Commission and the current HAB Cochairmen, Doug Dodge (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) and Bill Spaulding (V.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), will take great pleasure in discharging, with both honor and deep appreciation, the short-term task group that served only six years. Carlos M. Fetterolf, Jr. Executive Secretary Great Lakes Fishery Commission Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
494
PROLOGUE to the Proceedings of the Special Session of the 32nd Conference on Great Lakes Research, "Fish Community Health: Monitoring and Assessment in Large Lakes."
In their Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries, the agencies with primary responsibility for fishery administration, management, assessment, and research recommended that the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) develop a habitat advisory capability. To achieve this capability, the Commission established a Habitat Advisory Board (HAB) in 1984 and charged the Board to identify and address current and emerging habitat issues that may affect the achievement of fishery goals. The Board, under the leadership of Murray Johnson (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) and Bill Pearce (New York Department of Environmental Conservation), planned to create short-term task groups to address specific topics, then receive their reports, pass the recommendations on to the GLFC and fishery agencies, discharge the task group, and proceed to the next issue. No such luck. The first task group formed was to address two aspects of Fish Community Health; the significance of tumors in fish (including whether consumption of tumor-bearing fish was harmful to humans), and identification of healthy fish communities. There were no simple answers, and the team of Jack Black (Roswell Park Memorial Institute), Vic Cairns and Peter Hodson (Fisheries and Oceans Canada), David Evans (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources), and Steve Spigarelli (Bemidji State Vniversity) put forth great effort under task group chairman Wayne Willford (V.S. Environmental Protection Agency). After several internal drafts addressing identification of healthy and unhealthy fish communities were rejected by the task group, Steve Spigarelli concluded that the information sources and opinion bases must be broadened. In desperation the task group agreed, and Steve, Peter, and Dave organized the special session held at the 32nd Conference on Great Lakes Research. The quality of the presentations exceeded our expectations and the large, crowded audience was extremely receptive and appreciative. This session, "Fish Community Health: Monitoring and Assessment in Large Lakes," followed naturally in a series of committees, symposia, and initiatives sponsored by the International Joint Commission and/ or the GLFC to identify and measure ecosystem health: Water Quality Objectives, Scientific Basis of Water Quality Criteria, Contaminant Effects on Fisheries, Biological Indicators of Ecosystem Quality, Lake Trout and Ecosystem Health, Biological Surrogates in Mesotrophic Systems, How Clean Is Clean, and Fish Community Objectives. With this publication and the promise of early publication of "Gross signs of tumors in the Great Lakes fish: A manual for field biologists," the Fishery Commission and the current HAB Cochairmen, Doug Dodge (Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) and Bill Spaulding (V.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), will take great pleasure in discharging, with both honor and deep appreciation, the short-term task group that served only six years. Carlos M. Fetterolf, Jr. Executive Secretary Great Lakes Fishery Commission Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
494