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Presque Isle Bay

Topic Overview

Presque Isle Bay is a 3,655-acre embayment located in northwestern Pennsylvania on the southern shore of Lake Erie. The bay is 4.9 miles long, 1.8 miles wide, has an average depth of 13.1 feet. Presque Isle Bay is formed to the north by Presque Isle State Park and to the south by a 26.2 square-mile, highly urbanized watershed, including portions of Millcreek Township, City of Erie, Harborcreek Township, Summit Township, and Greene Township. The City of Erie, founded in 1792, grew around Presque Isle Bay. Like so many Great Lakes cities, Erie’s history and bayfront are characterized by industrial and wastewater problems. A transition of the city’s bayfront began in the 1980s, as it transitioned from an industrial-dominated zone to one of tourism and recreation. As industry began to fade from the Erie area in the early 1980s, environmentally minded citizens banded together with the common goal of restoring and protecting Presque Isle Bay. In 1991, their efforts ultimately lead to Presque Isle Bay being listed as an Area of Concern (AOC) under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. In February 2013, after decades of research and improvements to the bay’s watershed, Presque Isle Bay was removed from the list of Great Lakes AOCs. Despite being removed from the list of AOCs, ensuring that the health of the Presque Isle Bay ecosystem continues to improve remains a priority among the agencies, academic institutions, and non-profits working in the region.


News and Initiatives

  • Presque Isle Bay Buoy The water quality buoy in Presque Isle Bay tracks the daily conditions of the bay and monitors for harmful algal blooms. The buoy, purchased by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection with Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds, records temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, turbidity, blue-green algae, and total chlorophyll. The buoy is one of several buoys maintained by the Regional Science Consortium to provide information about weather and ecological conditions for boaters, anglers, swimmers, and researchers.

  • Using Fishes to Assess the Ecological Health of Presque Isle Bay Researchers from the Pennsylvania Sea Grant College Program, Penn State University, and U.S. Geological Survey are currently assessing the ecological health of Presque Isle Bay by comparing liver, skin, and gonadal tumor rates within smallmouth bass, bowfin, yellow bullhead, and brown bullhead, and evaluating the occurrence of intersex in these species. For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Sea Grant website

Resources

Presque Isle Bay

Title Publication Year Resource Type
PDF icon PIB - Then and Now.pdf 2008 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Sediment Evaluation (2002).pdf 2002 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Sediment Evaluation (1997).pdf 1997 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Bullhead Study (1997).pdf 1997 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Bullhead Study (1995).pdf 1995 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Bullhead Study (1984).pdf 1984 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB RAP Update (1993).pdf 1993 Policy Docs
PDF icon PIB RAP (1992).pdf 1992 Policy Docs
PDF icon PIB Watershed WQ Report (2012).pdf 2012 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Watershed Sediment Report (2012).pdf 2012 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Watershed Sediment and Habitat (2002).pdf 2002 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Watershed Macro Report (2013).pdf 2013 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Watershed Fish Report (2012).pdf 2012 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Watershed Assessment Summary (2002).pdf 2002 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Sediment Evaluation (2015).pdf 2015 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Sediment Evaluation (2009).pdf 2009 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Sediment Evaluation (2005).pdf 2005 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Sediment Evaluation (1994).pdf 1994 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Human Health Risk Assessment (2012).pdf 2012 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Ecological Risk Assessment (2012).pdf 2012 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Bullhead Study (1993).pdf 1993 Research Reports
PDF icon PIB Bullhead Study (1985).pdf 1985 Research Reports
PDF icon Extent and transport of PAHs (2007).pdf 2007 Research Reports
PDF icon Bullhead Viral Tumor Report (2012).pdf 2012 Research Reports
PDF icon Bullhead Hybridization Report (2007).pdf 2007 Research Reports
PDF icon Assessment of Fish Tumor BUI (2014).pdf 2014 Research Reports
PDF icon Sediment Workshop Report 2 (2005).pdf 2005 Proceeding
PDF icon Sediment Workshop Report 1 (2005).pdf 2005 Proceeding
PDF icon Fish Tumor Proceedings 3 (2006).pdf 2006 Proceeding
PDF icon Fish Tumor Proceedings 2 (2003).pdf 2003 Proceeding
PDF icon Fish Tumor Proceedings 1 (2003).pdf 2003 Proceeding
PDF icon Sediment Delisting Guidance (2005).pdf 2005 Policy Docs
PDF icon PIB Stage 3 RAP (2012).pdf 2012 Policy Docs
PDF icon PIB RAP (2002).pdf 2002 Policy Docs
PDF icon Delisting Sediment BUI (2006).pdf 2006 Policy Docs
PDF icon PIB Watershed Plan (2010).pdf 2010 Plans Manuals
PDF icon Bullhead histo manual (2007).pdf 2007 Plans Manuals
PDF icon Bullhead field manual (2006).pdf 2006 Plans Manuals
PDF icon PIB Sediment Fact Sheet (2005).pdf 2005 Fact Sheets
PDF icon PIB Delisting Fact Sheet (2013).pdf 2013 Fact Sheets