An objective ranking tool for determining fish habitat improvement projects in Lake Superior

Session: Great Lakes Fish Habitat Priorities Development, Implementation, and Adaptive Management (2)

Seth Moore, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, [email protected]

Abstract

Based upon the Fish Community Objectives (FCOs) established for Lake Superior, the Lake Superior Committee (LSC) and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission have initiated a process to prioritize fish habitat improvement projects in Lake Superior.  The process utilized technical fisheries expertise from across the basin to identify impediments to achievement of FCOs for individual stocks of fish of common concern and recommended actions to address these impediments.  A total of 70 potential impediments and recommended actions across the basin were identified by the technical experts.  The technical experts provided additional information to the Lake Superior Committee to allow them to develop a short-list of priority projects based upon a number of criteria.  Criteria used to select high priority habitat improvement projects in the basin included species, current status of the stock of fish, unintended or negative consequences of the action, and several criteria that characterized the certainty of information or assessment provided by the technical experts.  The LSC then developed a rank-sum approach to determine a subset of high priority habitat improvements that had the highest likelihood of addressing the achievement the Lake Superior Fish Community Objectives.