Great Lakes Ecosystem Information and links

 So the inside scoop is Alewife, the exotic prey fish in Lake Michigan, is on the brink of being reduced to zero. This means bad news for Chinook Salmon who feed almost exclusively on them. In contrast the native species such as lake trout, walleye, smallmouth bass and yellow perch should see dramatic increases. Round gobies, another recent invader to the Great Lakes, has taken over as the primary forage fish but it is closely associated with the bottom.

Lake managers are currently trying to figure out how to simultaneously save and maintain the Chinook fishery without negatively impacting the lake trout rehabilitation work. They will need good luck trying to figure that out.

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MSU Sea Grant "Eating Fish From Great Lakes" http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/explore/fisheries/hooking-and-cooking-eating-fish-from-around-the-great-lakes/

MSU Extension "Great Lakes Whitefish: Wild Caught and Close to Home" http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/great_lakes_whitefish_wild_caught_and_close_to_home

Unpublished data from Inter-Tribal Fisheries and Assessment Program on lake whitefish and lake trout fillets.  For more information on this data contact Mike Ripley (mripley@sault.com 906-632-0072).

PCB
Mercury
 
List of common Great Lakes fish contaminants (note; this is whole fish data not just the edible portion of the fillet, EPA assumes you will eat the whole fish):  
PCBs
EPA site for fish contaminants:  
http://www3.epa.gov/greatlakes/monitoring/fish/contaminant_concentrations.html

IJC's Great Lakes Fish Consumption Advisories:  http://www.ijc.org/files/publications/ID1540.pdf

News article on eating Lake Michigan fish:  http://www.wbez.org/series/curious-city/fish-and-risks-eating-lake-michigan-catch-109808