NORTHERN CHARS - SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGES AND MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Northern chars of the genus Salvelinus, Dolly Varden S. malma and Arct ic char S. alpinus, challenge scientific creativity because of their n otable plasticity in phenotypic life forms. Scandinavian fisheries sci entists are vigorously pursuing the potential of Arctic char for comme rcial culture because this species grows well in very cold water and a t high rearing densities. Ten papers on Arctic char that originated fr om a symposium on northern chars held at the 1989 annual meeting of th e American Fisheries Society in Anchorage, Alaska, are introduced and summarized. These papers, authored by scientists from Norway and Swede n, exemplify the interest in and concern for wild stocks of Arctic cha r, and they explore the possibilities for culture of this species.