Assessing Ecosystem-Based Management in the Great Lakes Basi

Ecosystem-based management incorporates biotic, abiotic, and social components into natural resource management decisions to promote natural resource sustainability. Fishery management in the Great Lakes basin has been facilitated by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) as the GLFC has taken a lead role in supporting ecosystem-based management for Great Lakes fisheries. The GLFC hosts Lake Committee meetings which began in the 1960s. Additionally the GLFC sponsored the Salmonid Community on Oligotrophic Lakes (SCOL) workshop in 1971 that furthered understanding about anthropogenic stressors on fish communities, advancing management and research discussions in the basin.;I explored 1) the role of the GLFC in developing ecosystem-based management principles in 1970--1975 through Lake Committee Meetings, and 2) how the structure of the Lake Committee meetings and SCOL influenced fishery management agency views towards ecosystem-based management principles. I confirmed that the GLFC facilitated management agencies to share fisheries management decisions and concerns across jurisdictions. SCOL was found to influence fishery management agencies to view management through a more comprehensive ecosystem perspective leading to a community and ecosystem perspective. Overall, ecosystem-based management principles were developing in the basin in 1970-1975 primarily through a fisheries perspective as resource managers moved from a single species type approach to an ecosystem perspective which was facilitated by the GLFC activities.