Witnesses told a House subcommittee Friday that declining water levels of the Great Lakes and growing invasive species in those waters demand strong federal action that shouldn't be delayed.

"We're still approaching it piecemeal," Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank said.

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TORONTO -- Great Lakes watchers are taking a high-tech approach to managing fish populations by mechanically implanting tiny identification codes in the noses of fish so they can be tracked, identified and provide data in the future about the health of the waters.

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You're at the grocery store or restaurant, and trying to choose what kind of fish to eat. But which fish are the best fish when it comes to sustainability?

For the first time, the answers to questions about Great Lakes fish are contained in a Right Bite card put out by the Shedd Aquarium of Chicago.

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There are several orders and regulations in various stages regarding invasive species that have come into the lakes through the seaway.

* A federal judge has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to begin regulating ballast water as pollution by September.

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The extra $10 million that the Michigan DNR "found" in its budget last December produced good news for coho anglers.

Thanks to more money, coho stocking will return to normal in 2009.

Let me explain.

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An expedited dredging schedule should make the now-perilous harbors of Muskegon, Grand Haven and Holland passable before the scheduled arrival of the busy shipping season.

Dredging of Muskegon's outer harbor, the scene of four ship groundings in 2007, is likely to begin around the second week of April, weather permitting, said Tom O'Bryan, acting chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Lake Michigan Area Office in Grand Haven.

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There is always hope, although reality is Michigan City coho anglers are likely in for another spotty spring.

Then again, all it takes is one school of the silvery salmon to wander into the harbor for a few weeks and everyone will be happy. Better yet would be for one big school of alewives to take up residence and keep the coho around even longer.

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The melt from one of the snowiest winters in years around the Great Lakes is expected to boost water levels in the upper lakes, which had hit or approached record lows last fall, by as much as a foot this summer, bringing joy to boaters and lakeside businesses.

"We didn't expect this dramatic turnaround," said Scott Thieme, chief hydrologist of the Detroit office of the Army Corps of Engineers. "It's a much better picture than it was six months ago. ...We're just amazed at the weather we've had."

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Walleye are doing well in Saginaw Bay, but only because they're eating another sport fish: yellow perch.

Prey fish like rainbow smelt and bloaters are providing some new food for chinook salmon and lake trout in the open waters of Lake Huron, but there is still an overall prey shortage.

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Chinook salmon were plentiful on Lake Michigan during the 2007 fishing season, but for the first time in 14 years, they were absent from the DNR's Master Angler list for fish species that were caught and kept.

The recently released 2007 list is a tally of fish entered in the program by anglers. Each of the 52 eligible species has to meet a minimum size requirement. Anglers can submit their catch to "Catch and Keep" or "Catch and Release" categories.

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