Alberta SRD - Fish and Wildlife - Fish in Alberta - Game Fish (original) (raw)

Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)

Last Update/Review: August 6, 2002

Lake whitefish are olive-green to blue on the back, with silvery sides. They have a small mouth below a rounded snout, and a deeply forked tail. They are mostly found in larger lakes in Alberta, where they prefer deep, cool water.

Lake whitefish spawn from September through January in water two to four metres in depth. A large spawning migration enters the Athabasca Delta in late summer, moving upstream in the Athabasca River. The longest single movement of a tagged whitefish ever recorded was 388 km (240 miles), from Fort McMurray to the north shore of Lake Athabasca.

Mainly bottom feeders, lakewhitefish eat crustaceans, snails, insects and other small aquatic organisms.

They are fished commercially in Alberta, and are becoming a very popular winter sport fish.