[Paddlewise] endangered fish returns to the lake ontatio

Endangered fish returns to the Great Lakes

                        Posted Jul 08, 1998 10:35 PM EDT (CBC)

                        The return of the sculpin to Lake Ontario has
scientists intrigued.
                        Rebounding fish stocks could mean the Great
Lakes are getting
                        healthier.

                        In Newfoundland, the sculpin is known as one of
most common and
                        least attractive fish in the sea.

                        The Great Lakes cousin is prettier, smaller and
less common. It
                        inhabited the deepest parts of Lake Ontario for
20,000 years but
                        vanished in the 1950s. Biologists believed that
industrial pollution had
                        killed off the small fish.

                        In the past few months, government biologists in
both New York
                        State and Ontario have been catching the deep
water sculpin for the
                        first time in 40 years.

                        Biologists believe the reappearance of the
sculpin could be a sign that
                        U.S./Canadian pollution control agreements may
be restoring Lake
                        Ontario's health. That's good news for the
health of the millions of
                        people who live near the lake.

                        "It's like a canary in a coal mine," says
biologist Theodore Schaner,
                        "like a barometer of health."




                        Copyright © 1998 CBC All Rights Reserved


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