Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii)
Status | Taxonomy | Species Description | Habitat | Distribution |
Population Trends | Threats | Conservation Efforts | Regulatory Overview |
Key Documents | More Info
 Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) Photo: Mary Whalen, U.S. Geological Survey | |
Did You Know? · When Pacific herring migrate inshore to spawn, they do not eat! | |
Status
ESA Candidate Species - Southeast Alaska DPS
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Clupeiformes
Family: Clupeidae
Genus: Clupea
Species: pallasii
Species Description
Pacific herring is a coastal schooling species. They reach 18 inches (46 cm) in maximum length and can live for up to 19 years. Pacific herring are dark blue to olive on their backs, shading to silver on their sides and belly. They occur from the surface to depths of 1,300 feet (400 m).
Mature adults migrate inshore, entering estuaries to breed. No feeding occurs from the start of this migration through spawning; active feeding occurs thereafter. Adult Pacific herring spawn in shallow sub-tidal and inter-tidal areas along shorelines. Eggs are deposited on kelp, eelgrass (Zostera marina) and other available structures. After spawning, herring return to summer feeding areas.
It is generally thought that after hatching, herring larvae are locally retained in nearshore waters close to their spawning grounds, where they feed and grow in the protective cover of shallow water habitats. After 2 to 3 months, larvae metamorphose into juveniles. During the summer of their first year, these juveniles form schools in shallow bays, inlets and channels. These schools disappear in the fall and then move to deep water for the next 2 to 3 years.
Herring feed on phytoplankton and zooplankton in nutrient-rich waters associated with oceanic upwelling. Young feed mainly on crustaceans, but also take decapod and mollusk larvae, whereas adults prey mainly on large crustaceans and small fishes. Although some mixing occurs, tagging studies show that Pacific herring stick together, remaining in the same school for years.
Habitat
Pacific herring occur from the surface to depths of 1,300 feet (400 m) in open ocean water of the Pacific coastal areas.
Distribution
Pacific Herring have numerous populations throughout the North Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas. In the western North Pacific, they are found throughout the Western Bering Sea to Kamchatka, in the Sea of Okhotsk, around Hokkaido, Japan, and south and west to the Yellow Sea. In the eastern North Pacific Ocean herring range from Baja California, Mexico, north to the Beaufort Sea, Alaska. Pacific herring are also found in the Russian Arctic from the Chukchi Sea to the White Sea. In Southeast Alaska, at least five major herring populations are presently identified by managers:
- Sitka
- Auke Bay
- Craig-Hydaburg
- Deer Island-Etolin Island (near Wrangell)
- Ketchikan.
These are being considered for Endangered Species Act listing (see below).
Population Trends
During the winters of 1972 through 1979, biomass estimates for the Lynn Canal, Alaska population (Auke Bay) exceeded 2.27 million kilograms, or approximately 2,500 tons (Carlson 1980). However, since 1981, spawning biomass estimates have been at or below 2,000 tons and the commercial fishery in Lynn Canal has been closed. For 2001 to 2004, the spawning biomass estimate was less than 1,000 tons. The Lynn Canal herring population's spawning biomass has declined by 90-99% since 1971. During this time, the extent of spawning beaches used has also declined by at least 90%, from over 20 individual locations covering at least 30 miles of beach to less than 3 miles at 2 to 3 locations in recent years.
Threats
The past destruction of herring spawning grounds and eelgrass beds has had a large effect on herring populations. This destruction has occurred from dredging, road and other construction activities, log storage, oil spills, and water quality degradation. Fishing exploitation of Pacific herring in Southeast Alaska began during the late 19th century and quickly decimated the populations throughout the region. The herring fishery in Lynn Canal and the Juneau area has been closed since 1982. In other parts of Southeast Alaska, populations of Pacific herring are currently harvested by purse-seine methods by the thousands of tons annually so overharvest may still be a threat. Global warming also threatens to reduce the amount of phytoplankton and zooplankton prey available to Pacific herring.
Conservation Efforts
The herring fishery in Lynn Canal and the Juneau area has been closed since 1982.
Regulatory Overview
On April 2, 2007, the Juneau group of the Sierra Club submitted a petition to list Pacific herring in the Lynn Canal, Alaska, area as a threatened or endangered "Distinct Population Segment" (DPS) under the criteria of the Endangered Species Act. On April 11, 2008, that petition was denied because the Lynn Canal population was not found to qualify as a DPS. However, the same Federal Register notice (73 FR 19824) announced that NMFS would be initiating a status review for a wider Southeast Alaska DPS of Pacific herring that includes the Lynn Canal population. The Southeast Alaska DPS of Pacific herring extends from Dixon Entrance northward to Cape Fairweather and Icy Point and includes all Pacific herring stocks in Southeast Alaska.
Key Documents
(All documents are in PDF format.)
| Title | Federal Register | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Initiation of Status Review | 73 FR 19824 | 04/11/2008 |
