TOWARD INTEGRATING REMEDIAL ACTION PLANNING AND FISHERY MANAGEMENT PLANNING IN GREAT-LAKES AREAS OF CONCERN

Fishery and water quality agencies both have similar goals of restorin g degraded fish communities and habitat in Great Lakes Areas of Concer n (AOCs) using an ecosystem approach. To implement an ecosystem approa ch and achieve complementary, reinforcing programs will require greate r coordination and integration. Recommendations include the following: (1) Priority should be placed on accelerating establishment of lakewi de fish community objectives for each Great Lake, and local fishery ma nagers should work within Remedial Action Plan (RAP) teams to set inte rim, quantitative fish community and habitat objectives or targets for AOCs that are consistent with lakewide objectives. (2) Senior governm ent managers and local resource managers should acknowledge the need f or and promote coordination of RAPs and fishery management planning in AOCs. (3) Binational efforts should be made to ensure that these inte rrelated planning efforts are complementary and reinforcing. Ways of a ccomplishing this include using existing, biennial, binational confere nces to ensure integration; expanding the terms of reference of an exi sting binational coordinating committee to ensure integration; or esta blishing a new binational committee whose terms of reference would ens ure integration. (4) Where integration and coordination of RAPs and fi shery management planning have been achieved and have resulted in acti ons to rehabilitate fisheries and fish habitat, managers should broadl y communicate how this was accomplished, including leveraging funds.