Great Lakes Fish Award
Created in partnership with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to celebrate fish species that provide valuable ecosystem services and are important to Great Lakes tribal, commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries and to raise awareness of non-native fish species that negatively impact the ecosystem.
Requirements
Artwork must feature a Great Lakes fish species from the list below, either native, naturalized, non-native (invasive), or a combination. Applicable species for this award are:
Native
Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)
Walleye (Sander vitreus)
Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens)
Yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
Cisco (Coregonus artedi)
Deepwater sculpin (Myoxocephalus thompsonii)
American eel (Anguilla rostrata)
Burbot (Lota lota)
Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)
Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)
White sucker (Catostomus commersonii)
Longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus)
Native
Northern pike (Esox Lucius)
Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy)
Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus)
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
Bowfin (Amia calva)
Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
Shorthead redhorse (Moxostoma macrolepidotum)
Quillback (Carpiodes cyprinu)
Bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus)
Longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus)
Chestnut lamprey (Ichthyomyzon castaneus)
Silver lamprey (Ichthyomyzon unicuspis)
Northern brook lamprey (Ichthyomyzon fossor)
American brook lamprey (Lethenteron appendix)
Naturalized
Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
Steelhead (migratory Rainbow trout; Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Non-native (invasive)
Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)
Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)
Round goby (Neogobius melanostomus)
Prizes
Great Lakes Fishery Commission Hat and Water Bottle ($30 value)
Sea lamprey model ($15 value)
Sea lamprey and GLFC-themed Stickers
Display on the GLFC Facebook and X.
Inclusion in a GLFC-created calendar distributed to partners, shareholders, legislators, the public, etc.
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be awarded in all four age categories: Kindergarten – 3rd grade, 4th-6th grade, 7th-9th grade, and 10th-12th grade.
About the Great Lakes Fishery Commission
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission was established in 1955 by the Canadian/U.S. Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries. The commission coordinates fisheries research, controls the invasive sea lamprey, and facilitates cooperative fishery management among the state, provincial, tribal, and federal agencies.