Cisco

At a glance

Cisco (Coregonus artedi) is an IUCN Least Concern bony-fish species regulated in 12 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.

The strictest bag limit is 2 (Ontario); the most generous is 350 (Nunavut).

Confirmed by 300 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with Ontario, Minnesota, and Michigan the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• Cisco, also called lake herring, were once commercially harvested by the millions of pounds from the Great Lakes.
• They typically reach 10–18 inches and weigh up to 2 pounds.
• Cisco spawn in late fall and early winter, often just as ice begins forming.
• They feed primarily on zooplankton and small crustaceans filtered from open water.
• Cisco are a key forage fish for lake trout, walleye, and northern pike.

Where Cisco are seen

• Ontario117 iNat obs
• Minnesota68 iNat obs
• Michigan37 iNat obs
• Wisconsin34 iNat obs
• Quebec13 iNat obs
• Manitoba9 iNat obs

Jurisdictions with rules for Cisco

• AlaskaUnited States · official source
• AlbertaCanada · official source
• IdahoUnited States · official source
• ManitobaCanada · official source
• MichiganUnited States · official source
• MinnesotaUnited States · official source

Background

Coregonus artedi, commonly known as the cisco, is a North American species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. The number of species and definition of species limits in North American ciscoes is a matter of debate. Accordingly, Coregonus artedi may refer either in a narrow sense to one of the several types of cisco found e.g. in the Great Lakes, or in a broad sense to the complex of…

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Cisco article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other bony fish on CatchRules

• BluegillLepomis macrochirus
• Brown TroutSalmo trutta
• Brook TroutSalvelinus fontinalis
• Channel CatfishIctalurus punctatus