GREAT LAKES PORTRAIT: Lake Superior
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| Lake Superior is the largest of Ontario's Great Lakes. |
Lake Superior is the first in the chain of the Great Lakes, and the farthest north. It is the largest, deepest, coldest and most pristine of the Great Lakes. Based on surface area, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world. The lake drains into Lake Huron through the St. Marys River … slowly.
Most of Lake Superior's water came from the melting of the glaciers, over 10,000 years ago. It takes almost 200 years for all the water in the lake to be replaced, by precipitation (rain, snow, etc.) and by water flowing in from rivers and streams. That’s the longest holding time of any of the Great Lakes.
With a population of more than 113,000 people, Thunder Bay is the largest city on the Canadian side of Lake Superior and a busy international shipping port. Sault Ste. Marie – known as the "hub" of the Great Lakes - lies where Lakes Superior and Huron meet. It is the second largest city on Superior's Canadian shores.
Lake Superior supports a variety of sport fishing opportunities from open water trolling for salmon and lake trout to ice fishing for whitefish and yellow perch in protected bays. There are also tremendous opportunities to catch trout and salmon in Superior's many tributaries. Lake-dwelling, or coaster, brook trout are highly prized by sport anglers because of their large size.
The principal commercial fish on Lake Superior is the lake whitefish. Thunder and Black Bays on Lake Superior also account for 90 per cent of the lake herring commercially harvested in the Canadian waters of the lake. Lake herring are primarily harvested for their roe, which is shipped mainly to the U.S. and Europe.
There is very little farming activity and little settlement on the Canadian side of the Lake Superior Basin. Most of the area is still wilderness, rich in natural resources and scenery. Because it's so vast, and so far removed from the industrial core of Ontario, it’s difficult to believe that Lake Superior can be affected by many of the same problems that threaten the other Great Lakes. But it is.
The shorelines east and west of Thunder Bay and north of Sault Ste. Marie – the most densely populated areas on Canada's Superior shores - are loosing valuable natural shoreline, and fish and wildlife habitat to urban and other types of development. There are few coastal wetlands on Lake Superior, so even small losses are a concern.
Lake Superior's fisheries are challenged by all this human activity. Biologists with the Ministry of Natural Resources work with large-scale forestry operators through the forest management planning process to ensure the construction of access roads and other activities don’t harm brook trout, walleye and lake sturgeon spawning habitat. Ministry biologists also work with operators of hydroelectric facilities to maintain water levels and flows for the spawning adults and young of these species.
Since it is at both the beginning and the end of our system of Great Lakes, Lake Superior represents the dead end for shipping – and a drop-off for many aquatic invasive species. Superior has the highest ratio of aquatic invasive species to native species of all the Great Lakes. Some of the Lake's native fish species are now at lower levels than they were in the past; fortunately, none of the lake’s original species have disappeared.
Photography
Phil Kor
fish community objectives, environmental objectives, state of the lake report
