Implementing science planning methods within the Coregonine Restoration Framework via expert knowledge elicitation and workshop facilitation – Year 3

Josh Egan (GLFC, jegan@glfc.org), Andrew Honsey (USGS), Andrew Muis (GLFC), Amanda Ackiss (USGS)

Commercial harvest, invasive species, environmental change, and ultimately, shifts in ecosystem structure and function (Ives et al. 2019; Hecky and DePinto 2020) led to an ~ 70% loss of coregonine biodiversity in the Laurentian Great Lakes during the past century (Eshenroder et al. 2016). In response to these losses, Great Lakes fishery managers, stewards, and scientists established a science-based framework to inform coregonine restoration and conservation (hereafter Restoration Framework; Bunnell et al. 2023). The Restoration Framework includes two critical planning steps that are accomplished through expert elicitation workshops: (1) delineation of “spatial units” corresponding to reproductive habitat used by coregonine populations in the past or present that determine the spatial scale of subsequent planning work and (2) assessments of threats to the conservation and enhancement of extant coregonine populations and restoration of coregonines in areas where they have been extirpated (Ackiss et al. 2023, Bunnell et al. 2023, Honsey et al. 2023). Spatial unit delineation and threats assessment workshops are led by the Native Fishes Restoration Coordinator (J. Egan) and Native Fishes Research Associate (M. Woodruff). Preparing for these workshops requires data synthesis, assembly of an expert panel representing diverse institutions and perspectives, and coordinating meeting logistics. Prior to and during workshops, expert panelists review data syntheses and participate in structured expert elicitation. The Restoration Coordinator and Research Associate also lead the compilation and communication of workshop results (e.g., reports, presentations, and peer-reviewed publications) and coordinate with other Coregonine Restoration Framework science planning and implementation teams. Indigenous Knowledges are highly informative to Restoration Framework planning. Tribes and First Nations determine their participation and lead the synthesis of Indigenous Knowledge. Janessa Esquible, the Great Lakes Indigenous Fisheries Postdoctoral Fellow at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, leads coordination with First Nations and Tribes interested in participating in Restoration Framework planning with support from the Restoration Coordinator and Research Associate. Substantial progress has been made on the Restoration Framework spatial unit delineation and threats assessment planning steps since we were first requested to undertake the planning steps by the Lake Erie Committee and Lake Ontario Committee in 2023. Since our last proposal (requesting year 2 of funding), we completed spatial unit delineations for bloater, cisco, lake whitefish, and round whitefish in Lake Ontario. Executive summaries were shared with the Lake Ontario Committee, technical reports are being drafted, and a presentation was delivered at the Lower Lakes Annual Meeting and the International Association for Great Lakes Research annual meeting. We are also preparing for the Lake Ontario bloater threats assessment, scheduled for September 2025. Looking ahead to Lake Michigan, we are also assisting with preparations for a visit to the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (18-20 August 2025) to discuss their potential participation in Restoration Framework planning. The Restoration Coordinator and Research Associate positions responsible for implementation of the spatial unit delineation and threats assessment planning steps are only funded through August 2026. We anticipate completing Lake Ontario cisco, lake whitefish, and round whitefish threats assessments in 2026, fulfilling the Lake Ontario Committee request. However, the Lake Michigan Committee formally requested implementation of the Restoration Framework for cisco and Kiyi C. kiyi, which represents additional work that we anticipate will extend through 2027. Furthermore, our outreach in 2025 indicates that, moving forward, we should expect to continue to allocate time to engagement with Tribes and First Nations, to develop relationships that could lead to the addition of Indigenous Knowledge to spatial unit delineations.