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The center of a vibrant downtown and a commercial shipping hub, the Milwaukee Harbor teems with underwater activity in pockets of habitat full of aquatic life. But look on any map and the harbor is just a blue-black void. The map on this page fills in that gap and invites you to explore the complexity of this remarkable urban ecosystem.

In 1997 the city installed a reef at the former site of the North Avenue Dam to support newly stocked lake sturgeon. Sturgeon don’t spawn until they are 26-years-old, but northern pike, darters, salmon and lake trout are taking advantage of the underwater habitat right now.

All that is left of the once-massive wetland system around the lower Kinnikinnic River is the 6.5 acres of Grand Trunk Wetland. Despite contamination, turkey, fox, mink, amphibians and even a rare species of garter snake make their home there. Spilled construction gravel in an inlet inadvertently created a prime spawning ground for bluegill.

The panfish and rock bass in the once-industrial Burnham Canal use human-made structures to their own advantage, spawning around a degrading concrete shelf. Waterfowl, including the endangered Black Crown Night Heron, feed on aquatic life found here. Meanwhile, the Menomonee River serves as a spawning site for salmon and trout, who spend most of their life in Lake Michigan. A clean, connected river system enables lake fish to thrive and means recreational opportunities for people who fish or birdwatch.

Two biological hotspots were found in Milwaukee’s outer habror: The Green Breakwall, located by the outer harbors north gap, and Summerfest Lagoon/Discovery World. Both host a highly diverse fishery. 

Small mouth bass and rock bass feed on hemimysis and round goby at the Green Breakwall throughout the summer with salmon and trout using the site as a staging area for their fall spawning runs. Bass, panfish, and northern pike are common in Summerfest Lagoon and Discovery World year round.  Brown trout can even be caught here through the ice in the winter.

With a gently sloping bottom and diverse substrate, the area off South Shore Park supports dense vegetation, shelters for newborn smallmouth and rock bass. In the summer, northern pike and brown trout hide there, waiting for unsuspecting prey.

Meanwhile, invasive quagga muscles deplete available nutrients in the water while providing a food source for another nuisance species: the round goby. As native fish like trout and whitefish learn to eat gobies, some balance may be restored.

With the Milwaukee Harbor Mapping project moving into the graphic design phase, the Fund for Lake Michigan funded a second mapping project.

This new project focuses on mapping fish spawning and foraging habitat in the Lake Michigan harbors of the Wisconsin communities: Algoma, Kewaunee, Two Rivers, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Racine and Kenosha.