The current volume represents a broad and diverse selection of the presentations shared in
Bayfield Wisconsin (USA) at the 13th International Symposium on the Biology and Management of
Coregonid Fishes. This meeting which was held 10-15 September 2017 embraced the traditions
founded by previous meetings and celebrated the diversity of research conducted across the
Northern Hemisphere. The published proceedings that have resulted from the twelve previous
meetings have become an important foundation for our understanding of coregonids and the
aquatic systems in which they reside. We are confident that the current volume adds to that
tradition by providing novel insights that will inspire new approaches to the research and
management of coregonids. Coregonids in Lake Superior support large-scale commercial operations
and smaller-scale subsistence fisheries. The importance of coregonids to native communities
across North America Europe and Asia cannot be overstated and a special session at the
symposium highlighted several cases in point. The first invited note describes the cultural
significance of European whitefish to communities along the Tornio River which divides Finland
and Sweden. The second invited note acknowledges that social media has become an important form
of communication and describes the effort to expand the access and reach of the 13th
International Coregonid Symposium. Management strategies for coregonid fisheries range from
absent to complex. The first section of this volume provides several accounts of management
actions employed in Finland the USA and Russia. Any attempt at management requires some
understanding of stock status. The second section includes novel attempts to better appreciate
population dynamics and behavior of coregonids and includes eight manuscripts from the USA
Norway and Canada. The third section highlights the role of coregonids within lacustrine and
riverine systems and includes six manuscripts from the USA Canada and Finland. Managers
attempting to restore coregonid populations often rely on stocking programs to achieve
objectives. The fourth section is comprised of insights from propagation efforts in Europe and
North America and includes contributions from Austria Germany and the USA. The final section
is devoted to evolutionary ecology and genetics and includes two manuscripts from the Great
Lakes region of the USA and Canada. The one hundred scientists from nine countries that
attended the first symposium in Winnipeg Canada in 1969 could not have known the future
influence of that formative meeting. The recognition by the organizers that the international
character of the problems make desirable the greatest possible scientific discussion and
exchange between specialists in different countries has been the guiding tenet of all thirteen
meetings. This collection of manuscripts represents a continuation of the institution that has
become of the Biology and Managementof Coregonid Fishes and will be a valued source of
information for those committed to understanding sustaining and restoring this remarkable
group of fish.
