Cisco

Cisco (Coregonus artedi), like whitefish, with which it is sometimes confused, is found in northern waters, south to Ohio and Illinois. In the salmon family, cisco also is found in the Minnesota River because of introduction there, although it is not native to that river. Cisco is smaller than whitefish, a record catch in Minnesota being a four-pounder from Big Sandy Lake. Cisco is fished both for sport and commercially. There were at one time in the Great Lakes seven species of cisco, six of which disappeared when alewives invaded the lakes. Because the alewife population has declined in the Great Lakes, the one surviving species of cisco has recovered well enough to be fished commercially. Cisco is also called tullibee (a name given it by the fur traders), chub, and lake or freshwater herring. Cisco appears in markets in the round and smoked. It is suitable for steaming, frying, and broiling.