This page includes terms related to the Great Lakes region including acronyms, technical jargon, slang, and other information.
Acronyms
AGLPA – American Great Lakes Ports Association
BWB – Blue Water Bridge
BWIAB – Biggest Week In American Birding
CAWS – Chicago Area Waterway System
CIS – Canadian Ice Service
COA – Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health
CSMI – Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative
CSSC – Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
CVTS – Cooperative Vessel traffic Service
EGLE – Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
FMZ – fisheries management zone (Province of Ontario)
FOSCR – Friends of the St. Clair River
GLC – Great Lakes Commission
GLCC – Great Lakes Cruising Coalition
GLCRS – Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study
GLFC – Great Lakes Fishery Commission
GLFER – Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration Program
GLFT – Great Lakes Fishery Trust
GLG – Great Lakes Gateway
GLIN – Great Lakes Information Network
GLMRIS – Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study
GLMTF – Great Lakes Maritime Task Force
GLNS – Great Lakes Navigation System
GLOS – Great Lakes Observing System
GLRRIN – Great Lakes Regional Research Information Network
GLRC – Great Lakes Research Consortium
GLSGN – Great Lakes Sea Grant Network
GLSHS – Great Lakes Shipwreck Historic Society
GLW – Great Lakes Waterway
GLWQA – Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
GSGP – Conference of Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers
HAB – harmful algal bloom
HOMES – lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
HOPA – Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority
IGLD – International Great Lakes Datum
IJC – International Joint Commission
INCW – International Niagara Control Works
LAMP – Lakewide Action and Management Plan
LCA – Lake Carriers’ Association
LSC – Lake St. Clair
MLO – Montreal to Lake Ontario region (section of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway)
MTS – Great Lakes Marine Transportation System
NPLSF – National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation
SCR – St. Clair River
SLSS – Saint Lawrence Seaway System
SMR – St. Marys River
USNIC – U.S. National Ice Center
Slang – Local Terms
Coaster – brook trout that live in lakes and ascend rivers to spawn
Fitz – SS Edmund Fitzgerald
Great Loop – a waterway that includes part of the Atlantic, Gulf Intracoastal Waterways, the Great Lakes, Canadian Heritage Canals, and the inland rivers of America’s heartland.
Looper – person that has completed the Great Loop
Mishigami – Lake Michigan (Ojibwe word for large water)
Siscowet – heavy bodied form of lake trout that is found mainly in offshore waters
Troll – Michigan Lower Peninsula local
The Mitt – Michigan Lower Peninsula
The Thumb – eastern part of Michigan Lower Peninsula
Triangle Loop – a waterway from the Hudson River to Lake Ontario via the Erie and Oswego Canals, to the northern shore of Lake Ontario, then along the St. Lawrence Seaway to Sorel.
Yooper – Michigan Upper Peninsula local
U.P. – Michigan Upper Peninsula