Resurgence of Cisco (Coregonus artedi) in Lake Michigan Randall M. Claramunt b , Jason Smith c , Kevin Donner c , Annalise Povolo a , Matthew E. Herbert d , Tracy Galarowicz e , Tracy L. Claramunt b , Scott DeBoe f , Wendylee Stott g , Jory L. Jonas a, ⁎ a Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station, 96 Grant Street, Charlevoix, MI 49720, USA b Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Oden State Fish Hatchery, 8258 S. Ayr Road, Alanson, MI 49706, USA c Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, 7500 Odawa Circle, Harbor Springs, MI 49740, USA d The Nature Conservancy, 101 Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, Lansing, MI 48906, USA e Central Michigan University, Department of Biology, Biosciences 2100, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA f Consumers Energy, Environmental Services, 1945 West Parnall Road, Jackson, MI 49201, USA g Michigan State University CESU c/o U. S. Geological Society-Great Lakes Science Center, 1451 Green Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA abstract article info Article history: Received 20 May 2018 Accepted 22 March 2019 Available online 7 May 2019 Communicated by Timothy Johnson In recent decades, many factors that were linked with the decline of Great Lakes cisco (Coregonus artedi) populations have subsided. The goal of this study was to investigate where cisco exist in Lake Michigan and evaluate evidence for recovery including when, where, and to what extent it is occurring. We evaluated datasets from several indepen- dent monitoring efforts that did and did not target cisco. We also evaluated trends in commercial and recreational catches of cisco. Across these datasets, there was strong evidence of a sustained recovery of cisco stocks that began in Lake Michigan in the mid-2000s. Fall gill net surveys and commercial fisheries provided reasonable indications of a population recovery in the northeast by 2011. Further south, Ludington Pump Storage barrier net monitoring also recorded increasing numbers of cisco starting in 2011. Recreational harvest estimates were valuable in evaluating spatial distributions but were less valuable as an early signal of abundance shifts. Measures of the recreational har- vest of cisco most notably increased in 2014. The highest catch rates and harvest occurred in Grand Traverse Bay and northern Lake Michigan as evidenced by recreational, commercial, and fall netting surveys. Observations of cisco are expanding and have increased in intensity along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan south to Muskegon in both fish- ery dependent and independent surveys. The similarity in trends from all data sources indicate that cisco abundance has increased, and their range within the basin continues to expand. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Association for Great Lakes Research. Keywords: Coregonus artedi Cisco Coregonine Lake Michigan Grand Traverse Bay Introduction The abundance of cisco (Coregonus artedi; also known as lake herring) has fluctuated greatly, the lowest point occurring with their near extirpa- tion from all five Laurentian Great Lakes by 1970 (Baldwin et al., 2009; Madenjian et al., 2011). The harvest of cisco peaked between 1883 and 1908, reaching up to 9 million kg annually. Throughout the Great Lakes, harvest rates and, by inference, populations of cisco declined shortly there- after and by the 1960s were 0.2% of the maximum (Bogue, 2000; Wells and McLain, 1973). In Lake Michigan, cisco supported an important com- mercial fishery as they were harvested for both their flesh and roe (Brown et al., 1999; Wells and McLain, 1973; Zimmerman and Krueger, 2009). Other congenerics in Lake Michigan (C. johannae, C. zenithicus, C. alpenae, C. reighardi, C. kiyi, C. nigripinnis, and C. hoyi) experienced similar population reductions and in the end, all but cisco and bloater (C. hoyi) were extirpated from the basin (Eshenroder and Burnham-Curtis, 1999; Smith, 1964; Todd and Smith, 1992; Wells and McLain, 1973). Large-scale declines in coregonine populations were likely associated with over-harvest, adverse interactions with invasive species and envi- ronmental degradation. Commercial harvest of cisco was high before 1960 and likely played an important role in the decline of cisco in Lake Michigan (Baldwin et al., 2009; Bogue, 2000). Construction of canals to support transoceanic shipping led to introductions of invasive species in- cluding sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus; Bunnell et al., 2006; Eshenroder and Burnham-Curtis, 1999). Rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) were intentionally introduced into an inland lake adjacent to Lake Michigan and by 1923 were found in Lake Michigan and rapidly expanded (Van Oosten, 1937). Each of these introductions had profound influences on the Great Lakes ecosys- tem, particularly when combined with overfishing and habitat degrada- tion, and many native fish species declined following their establishment (Eshenroder and Burnham-Curtis, 1999; Evans and Loftus, 1987; Madenjian et al., 2008). Similarly, habitat quality—particularly benthic dissolved oxygen in key nursery areas—was highly degraded and may also have contributed to the collapse (Madenjian et al., 2008, 2011). The relative contribution of overharvest, invasive species and low habitat quality to cisco population declines remains unclear. Journal of Great Lakes Research 45 (2019) 821–829 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: jonasj@michigan.gov (J.L. Jonas). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2019.04.004 0380-1330/Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Association for Great Lakes Research. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Great Lakes Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jglr