Herring is the general name of fishes of the genus Clupea, the most important of which is the Clupea harengus, or common herring. It is of wide distribution in the
North Atlantic, 45 degrees North latitude being about the southern limit. It measures from 10 to 12 inches in length, with blue-green back and brilliant silvery white under parts. It has small teeth in both jaws, and is of an elegant shape, the body being much compressed.
It was once supposed that the herrings migrated in two great shoals every summer from the Polar Seas to the coasts of Britain and France, returning in the winter, but the migration is probably only from a deeper part of the ocean to a shallower. The feeding ground of the herring is probably the mud deposits found in the deeper parts of the sea, and it seems to be a fact that during their visits to the shallower waters of the coast for the purpose of spawning they do not feed, or feed very little.
In summer the herring leaves the deep water where it has passed the winter and spring months, and seeks the coast where it may deposit its ova, and where they may be exposed to the influences of oxygen, heat, and sun-light, which are essential to their development. They are generally followed by multitudes of hakes, dog-fishes, etc, and gulls and other sea-birds hover over the shoals. They swim near the surface, and are therefore easily taken by net.
It was erroneously thought in the 19th and early 20th centuries that so great is the herring's fecundity that enormous number could be taken without reducing their abundance, as many as 68,000 eggs having been counted in the roe of one female. As a result, massive drift nets were used to fish millions of Herring from the sea. However, in the mid-20th century over fishing had almost wiped out the Herring and a suspension of fishing for them was put in place until their numbers returned.
Herrings are traditionally taken throughout the year, but in the greatest quantities in summer. In Scotland the herring fishery was long one of the most important industries. Research Herring
Abbreviations
Nature
Research Herring