Restore It And They Will…Spawn?

Last spring, we featured UW grad student, Dan Oele’s work on northern pike in Green Bay. Dan was trying to answer the question, “Do pike return to the waters where they first emerged from eggs to spawn, or will any suitable stream do?” Now, it appears he has an answer. And his results are good …

Fish Fry Day: Lake Sturgeon

Forgive the late post here, but your trusty blog author has been out and about in the Rocky Mountain front range for the past few days. But, never fear, it’s still Friday here in the Mountain Standard Time Zone and that means it’s still the day that Wisconsin offers up its fabulous fish fry dinners …

When Lakes Attack: Mendota Edition

Yesterday, we gathered at the upstairs windows here in the office and watched as spring thunderstorms blew in across Lake Medota and set a giant slab of ice drifting past Hasler Lab. The sheet of ice appeared to be roughly a quarter the size of the lake itself. If was truly astonishing, like observing some …

Thinking “Big” May Not Be Best Approach to Saving Large-River Fish

Large-river specialist fishes—from giant species like paddlefish and blue catfish, to tiny crystal darters and silver chub – are in danger. According to a new study, in the U.S. 60 out of 68 species, or 88% of fish species found exclusively in large-river ecosystems like the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio rivers, are of state, federal or …

Fish Fry Day: Northern Pike

Well, it’s that time of the week again. The day in Wisconsin offers up its fabulous fish fry dinners and the day here at the blog where we celebrate some of our favorite fishes. If you missed the first installment of “Fish Fry Day,” you can learn more about that beautiful panfish, the pumpkinseed, by …

Road Salt Turns Deep Water into “Low-Sodium Soup”

Before the ice melts off these lakes here in Madison (we will get ice-off this year, right???), we thought we’d share a report from our senior research technician, Ted Bier, who you may have seen out with facilities manager, Dave Harring, drilling holes in the ice around town this winter as they collected data for …

The Impact of Ag: More Than Half of U.S. Rivers in ‘Poor’ Condition

Last Tuesday, the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency released the results of a comprehensive study that measured the vital signs of 1.2 million miles of American rivers and streams. The prognosis wasn’t great. Measuring things like water clarity, nutrient pollution, bacteria levels and mercury contamination, the EPA found that 55% of the river miles studied …

Limnology in Africa – Hand-Cranked, Deep-Water Research

Last summer, a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for Limnology and Wright State University in Ohio, were on the shores of Africa’s Lake Tanganyika, the oldest and deepest of the African rift lakes, for the field season. CFL grad student, Ben Kraemer, decided a summer wasn’t long enough and decided to …

Introducing “Fish Fry Day”

Here in Wisconsin, the end of the work week is often celebrated with a dinner of lightly battered, deep-fried deliciousness. We’re talking bluegill, perch, walleye and, for those not yet hip enough to eat our delectable native fish – cod. Here at the blog, we decided we’d celebrate the quintessential fish fry by taking some …

Freshwater Estuaries: Exploring an Unusual Ecosystem

The Saint Louis River Estuary is a rare type of freshwater ecosystem that receives significant amounts of water from both the incoming rivers and Lake Superior. While estuaries are common along coastlines where rivers empty into the big blue sea, it’s less common to find a river running into a large-enough body of freshwater like …