Editing Great Lakes (section)

===Fauna===
{{see also|Great Lakes Areas of Concern#Invasive species|Category:Fauna of the Great Lakes region (North America)|Category:Fish of the Great Lakes|Asian carp in North America}}
[[File:Lakesturgeon public U.S.Fish&Wildlife.jpg|thumb|[[Lake sturgeon]], the largest native fish in the Great Lakes and the subject of extensive commercial fishing in the 19th and 20th centuries is listed as a threatened species<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.fws.gov/midwest/sturgeon/biology.htm |title = Great Lakes Lake Sturgeon Web Site |author = U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service }}</ref>]]
While the organisms living on the bottom of shallow waters are similar to those found in smaller lakes, the deep waters contain organisms found only in deep, cold lakes of the northern latitudes. These include the delicate opossum shrimp (order [[mysida]]), the deepwater scud (a crustacean of the order [[amphipoda]]), two types of [[copepod]]s, and the [[deepwater sculpin]] (a spiny, large-headed fish).<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.britannica.com/place/Great-Lakes |title = Great Lakes |last1 = Beeton |first1 = Alfred |website = Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date = January 31, 2016 }}</ref>

The Great Lakes are an important source of [[fishing]]. Early European settlers were astounded by both the variety and quantity of fish; there were 150 different species in the Great Lakes.<ref name="Grady" /> Throughout history, fish populations were the early indicator of the condition of the Lakes and have remained one of the key indicators even in the current era of sophisticated analyses and measuring instruments. According to the bi-national (U.S. and Canadian) resource book, ''The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book'': "The largest Great Lakes fish harvests were recorded in 1889 and 1899 at some {{convert|67000|t|ton}} [147&nbsp;million pounds]."<ref name="glearb">{{cite book |author = Anon |year = 1972 |title = The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book }} Bi-national (U.S. and Canadian) resource book.{{full citation needed|date=March 2024}}</ref>

By 1801, the [[New York State Legislature|New York Legislature]] found it necessary to pass regulations curtailing obstructions to the natural migrations of [[Atlantic salmon]] from Lake Erie into their spawning channels. In the early 19th century, the government of [[Upper Canada]] found it necessary to introduce similar legislation prohibiting the use of weirs and nets at the mouths of Lake Ontario's tributaries. Other protective legislation was passed, but enforcement remained difficult.<ref name="Bogue2001m">{{cite book |first = Margaret Beattie |last = Bogue |title = Fishing the Great Lakes: An Environmental History, 1783–1933 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Pn7IlRl8DhsC&pg=PA180 |year = 2001 |publisher = Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn = 978-0-299-16763-9 |page = 180 }}</ref>

On both sides of the Canada–United States border, the proliferation of [[dam]]s and impoundments have multiplied, necessitating more regulatory efforts. Concerns by the mid-19th century included obstructions in the rivers which prevented salmon and [[lake sturgeon]] from reaching their spawning grounds. The Wisconsin Fisheries Commission noted a reduction of roughly 25% in general fish harvests by 1875. The states have removed dams from rivers where necessary.{{Clarify|date=September 2012}}<ref name="Commission">{{cite book |author = Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission |title = Special report&nbsp;... of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission |publisher = The Commission |page = 23 }}</ref>

Overfishing has been cited as a possible reason for a decrease in population of various [[freshwater whitefish|whitefish]], important because of their culinary desirability and, hence, economic consequence. Moreover, between 1879 and 1899, reported whitefish harvests declined from some 24.3&nbsp;million pounds (11&nbsp;million&nbsp;kg) to just over 9&nbsp;million pounds (4&nbsp;million&nbsp;kg).<ref name="MacdonaldService2009"/> By 1900, commercial fishermen on Lake Michigan were hauling in an average of 41&nbsp;million pounds of fish annually.<ref name=js2/> By 1938, Wisconsin's commercial fishing operations were motorized and mechanized, generating jobs for more than 2,000 workers, and hauling 14&nbsp;million pounds per year.<ref name=js2/> The population of giant freshwater mussels was eliminated as the mussels were harvested for use as buttons by early Great Lakes entrepreneurs.<ref name="MacdonaldService2009">{{cite book |editor1-last = Macdonald |editor1-first = David |editor2-last = Service |editor2-first = Katrina |title = Key Topics in Conservation Biology |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=flEwoquwpGUC&pg=PA188 |year = 2009 |publisher = John Wiley & Sons |isbn = 978-1-4443-0906-5 |page = 188 }}</ref>

''The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book'' (1972) notes: "Only pockets remain of the once large commercial fishery."<ref name="glearb" /> Water quality improvements realized during the 1970s and 1980s, combined with successful salmonid stocking programs, have enabled the growth of a large recreational fishery.<ref name="Agency1998">{{cite book |title = Great Minds?, Great Lakes! Don't Miss The Boat With Environmental Education |date = March 1997 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SlD57QnxOb0C&pg=PA7 |publisher = Environmental Protection Agency |page = 7 }}</ref> The last commercial fisherman left Milwaukee in 2011 because of overfishing and anthropogenic changes to the [[biosphere]].<ref name="js2">{{cite news |url = http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/127610953.html |title = The lake left me. It's gone |work = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date = August 13, 2011 }}</ref>
[[File:Lake Superior North Shore(v2).jpg|thumb|Cliffs at [[Palisade Head]] on Lake Superior in Minnesota near Silver Bay.]]