Pacific Herring | Oceana
Home / Pacific Herring

Marine Life Encyclopedia

Ocean Fishes

Pacific Herring

Clupea pallasii

Distribution

Coastal waters in the northeastern and northwestern Pacific

ECOSYSTEM/HABITAT

Coastal seas and estuaries

FEEDING HABITS

Foraging predator

TAXONOMY

Class: Actinopterygii, Order: Clupeiformes, Family: Clupeidae

The herring’s body is bluish-green on the top of the back, and the stomach and sides are a bright silver. This coloring is known as countershading, and it makes Pacific herring harder to see from above or below. Countershading helps the herring camouflage itself from potential predators, which include larger fish, seabirds, and marine mammals.1 Another distinct feature of the pacific herring is its eyes, which are relatively large for a species of its size.

Herring travel in large schools up to 1,300 feet below the ocean’s surface. This species’ lifespan varies based on its habitat, but individuals can live for up to twenty years in the cold waters of the Bering sea.2 Juvenile herring feed primarily on crustaceans and mollusk larvae while adults’ diets consist of crustaceans and small fish.

Herring migrate to inshore brackish waters to spawn. Females lay their eggs on seagrass beds and seaweed, where they are fertilized by the males. Herring larvae hatch in these sheltered habitats. Once they reach the juvenile stage, they will migrate back to the ocean for two to three years before they mature and return inshore to spawn.

As a keystone species, several other species in the Pacific food web rely on herring to sustain their diets, so changes in herring populations can have a ripple effect on the entire ocean ecosystem. In British Columbia, for example, herring is a primary food source for Chinook and Coho salmon as well as harbor seals.3 Pacific herring are also important for communities whose economy revolves around the herring fishery. However, certain herring populations have historically been vulnerable to overfishing. Local herring fisheries in British Columbia collapsed in the 1960’s, with numbers declining again in the 1990’s.3 With improved fisheries management, herring may have a chance to flourish again. Oceana works to stop overfishing through the establishment of science-based catch limits, ending harmful fishing subsidies and reducing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Join Oceana to help protect species like the Pacific herring that are crucial to safe and healthy oceans.

Fun Facts about Pacific Herring

1. Southern Pacific herring species have shorter lifespans than individuals who live in colder northern Pacific waters.

2. Pacific herring can swim with the same school for several years.

3. The Pacific herring’s scientific genus name, Clupea, derives from the Latin word for shield, most likely a reference to the herring’s silvery scales.

4. The Pacific herring’s eggs are considered a culinary delicacy in Japan.

5. First Nations indigenous communities on the western Canadian coast have relied on Pacific herring as a food source for thousands of years.3

Engage Youth with Sailors for the Sea

Oceana joined forces with Sailors for the Sea, an ocean conservation organization dedicated to educating and engaging the world’s boating community. Sailors for the Sea developed the KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans) program to create the next generation of ocean stewards. Click here or below to download hands-on marine science activities for kids.

Kids Environmental Lesson Plans

Additional Resources:

1. Alaska Department of Fish and Game

2. NOAA

3. Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Get Involved

Donate Today

SUPPORT OUR WORK TO PROTECT THE OCEANS BY GIVING TODAY

With the support of more than 1 million activists like you, we have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean.

Donate Now

TAKE ACTION NOW

Support policy change for the oceans

Decision-makers need to hear from ocean lovers like you. Make your voice heard!

Sign Now

VISIT OUR ADOPTION CENTER

SYMBOLICALLY ADOPT AN ANIMAL TODAY

Visit our online store to see all the ocean animals you can symbolically adopt, either for yourself or as a gift for someone else.

Shop Today

DOWNLOAD OCEAN ACTIVITIES

HELP KIDS DISCOVER OUR BLUE PLANET

Our free KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans) empower children to learn about and protect our oceans!

Learn More

FEATURED CAMPAIGN

Save the Oceans, Feed the World

We are restoring the world’s wild fish populations to serve as a sustainable source of protein for people.

Learn More

More CAMPAIGNs

Protect Habitat

Bycatch

Plastics

View All

CONTACT

Oceana International Headquarters
1025 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036 USA

General Inquiries
+1(202)-833-3900
info@oceana.org

Donation Inquiries
+1(202)-996-7174
wavemaker@oceana.org

Press Inquiries
+1(202)-833-3900
press@oceana.org

OCEANA'S EFFICIENCY

BECOME A WAVEMAKER

Sign up today to get weekly updates and action alerts from Oceana.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT WITH A DONATION

We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.

Donate Now

QUICK LINKS: