 |
Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership
KEEPING THE GREAT LAKES GREAT
|
|
| |
| |
|
 he mission of the Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership is to protect, restore, enhance and sustain fish habitat in the Great Lakes basin, by providing leadership, coordination and collaboration with existing and future partners.
Guiding Principles
The following principles should guide all actions undertaken in support of the Great Lakes Basin Fish Habitat Partnership:
- Fish are among North America’s most highly valued natural resources.
- Fish communities in the Great Lakes basin should be sustained at objective levels across their natural ranges to provide both ecological and socioeconomic benefits.
- Healthy fish communities require diverse and abundant physical habitats, including clean water.
- Proper habitat management that would sustain scientifically managed harvests of the renewable fishery resource is desired.
- Protection of Great Lakes basin fish communities and their habitats requires long-term planning and close cooperation and coordination of management activities across the basin.
- Partnerships among private organizations, individuals, and government agencies are the primary vehicles for accomplishing GLBFHP objectives.
- Long-term protection, restoration, and management of fish habitats requires that the GLBFHP collaborate with other conservation and community efforts in the development of conservation, economic, and social policies and programs that sustain the ecological health of landscapes.
- Implementation of our strategic plan is founded on sound science and guided by biologically based planning, both of which are, in turn, refined with increased knowledge gained through evaluation and research.
- Habitat restoration and protection requires that root causes of habitat degradation, such as land management practices that affect hydrological flow, be addressed at a watershed scale.
- Habitat actions for fish communities will be planned to benefit associated aquatic species and communities as much as possible.
- Global environmental effects, such as climate change and air borne contaminants, must be addressed in our efforts to protect and restore fish habitats.
|
 he Great Lakes - Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario - form the largest surface freshwater system on the Earth. It also supports a large fishery that provides important commercial and recreational fishing.
he Basin is home to 10 percent of the population of the U.S., with over 30 million people relying on the world’s largest surface freshwater system as a source of drinking water. Economic activity in the Basin exceeds $200 billion a year, with the region generating more than 50 percent of the total U.S. manufacturing output. Recreation is also an important part of the Basin’s economy with the annual value of the commercial and sport fishery estimated at over $4.5 billion.
 ast but certainly not least, more than 300 species of fish and other aquatic organisms inhabit the rivers, streams, and coastal areas of the Basin and depend on these habitats during critical life-history stages.
 rotecting, restoring, and enhancing the aquatic biological diversity and habitat throughout the Basin are regional priorities because of their strong connection between the economy, and health of the surrounding human population and other natural resources.
|
|
| |
|
|
Last updated:
August 17, 2009
