Adaptive management framework of the Huron-Erie corridor initiative

For the past 10 years, numerous partners and agencies in Michigan and Ontario have focused on the restoration of fishery productivity in the channel connecting Great Lakes Huron and Erie, as part of the broad-based, Huron-Erie Corridor Initiative. Historically, the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers produced large catches of cisco, lake sturgeon, and lake whitefish. Over the past 90 years, much of the spawning and nursery habitat for these fish was destroyed by construction of shipping channels, filling of coastal wetlands, and contamination from industry and combined sewer overflows. In the past decade, numerous multidisciplinary fisheries habitat rehabilitation strategies were implemented, including intensive fisheries assessment that led to construction of fish spawning grounds at two sites in the Detroit River.  Here, we present how our thinking evolved, lessons learned, and how we applied the principles of adaptive management and conservation biology to construct two fish spawning grounds; reconnect spawning and nursery habitat for numerous native fish species; and assist fishery managers in better management of the recovering fishery resources in this channel.