November 13, 2012 - MPR’s Dan Kraker visits Grand Marais, as lake herring season on Lake Superior crests. For about six weeks every October and November, thousands of the silvery fish, also called cisco, are pulled from the Lake's icy waters. The harvest supports a small but thriving fishing industry along the North Shore that caters to the growing market for local and sustainable food.
May 8, 2002 - As part of MPR’s Changing Current series, reporter Stephanie Hemphill looks at the return of a native species to The French River, which flows into Lake Superior about 15 miles north of Duluth. The coaster brook trout has been struggling to survive in Lake Superior and its tributaries for more than a hundred years. Some people are turning their attention to bringing them back.
May 5, 1999 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on the diminishing population of rainbow smelt in Lake Superior. Years ago, the smelt run drew huge crowds to Lake Superior beaches, where fish were netted by hand and cooked over open fires. Raucous all-night beach parties fueled by generous doses of alcohol achieved mythical status around the big lake. But now, the big smelt runs are history.
September 3, 1998 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports on the short and long term affects of a warming Lake Superior. While swimmers enjoy a comfortable swim in the usually frigid waters of Lake Superior, the conditions might help predict some troubling consequences should the region warm several degrees over the next decades.