CLEVELAND -- In the next few days, a new 70-foot research vessel will be keeping tabs on the health of Lake Erie's economically important fishery.

Officials yesterday christened two identical research ships commissioned by the U.S. Geological Survey. They were built under an $8.2 million contract in Cleveland and funded with federal stimulus dollars. One will travel Lake Erie, the other Lake Ontario.

The Muskie replaces a 45-foot boat of the same name that has sailed Lake Erie for the last 50 years. The second boat, the Kaho, replaces a 65-footer on Lake Ontario.

The federal agency's Great Lakes Science Center is charged with monitoring the Great Lakes' $7 billion commercial and recreational fishing industry. It's estimated that half of that total can be attributed to Lake Erie alone.

The Muskie's crew will spend between 60 and 120 days a year on the water surveying fish populations, studying fish habitats, and monitoring dangers posed by invasive species, toxic algae blooms, and other environmental threats.

Russell Strach, director of the Ann Arbor-based Great Lakes Science Center, said that if Asian carp were to invade Lake Erie, a crew aboard the Muskie would most likely be the first to detect their presence. The USGS conducts much of its research on Lake Erie in partnership with Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York and the Canadian province of Ontario.

First Published September 1, 2011, 4:07 a.m.