Maraena Whitefish

Coregonus maraena, referred to in English as the maraene, maraena whitefish, vendace, cisco, lake herring, lake whitefish or the whitefish, is a whitefish of the family Salmonidae that occurs in the Baltic Sea basin – in the sea itself and the inflowing rivers, and in several lakes as landlocked populations. It is found in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia (Štrbské pleso), Russia and Sweden. Up to 2023, it was listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN, but this is now revised to Least Concern. It is listed as endangered by HELCOM.

It is an extremely important fish within the Baltic Sea ecosystem, both for population equilibrium and for the local diets of the surrounding human population. Due to a variety of factors, mostly overfishing, the maraena's population dwindled to near-extinction levels. Thus, rampant repopulation was enacted to preserve this important fish.