Herring

This article is about the species of fish. For other uses, see Herring (disambiguation).

Herring Temporal range: 55–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N Early Eocene to Present
Atlantic Herring
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Subclass:	Neopterygii
Infraclass:	Teleostei
Order:	Clupeiformes
Family:	Clupeidae
Subfamily:	Clupeinae
Genus:	Clupea Linnaeus, 1758
Species
see text

Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and the Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) may each be divided into subspecies. Herrings are forage fish moving in vast schools, coming in spring to the shores of Europe and America, where they are caught, salted, smoked, marinated and creamed.

Morphology

The species of Clupea belong to the larger family Clupeidae (herrings, shads, sardines, menhadens), which comprise some 200 species that share similar features. These silvery-colored fish have a single dorsal fin, which is soft, without spines. They have no lateral line and have a protruding lower jaw. Their size varies between subspecies: the Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) is small, 14 to 18 centimeters; the proper Atlantic herring (C. h. harengus) can grow to about 46 cm (18 inches) and weigh up 700 g (1.5 pounds); and Pacific herring grow to about 38 cm (15 inches).

Predators

Clupea harengus

Predators of herring include humans, seabirds, dolphins, porpoises, striped bass, seals, sea lions, whales, sharks, dog fish, tuna, cod, salmon, and halibut. Other large fish also feed on adult herring.

Diet

See Atlantic herring for videos of juvenile herring feeding by catching copepods.

An underwater video of a school of herring.

Young herring feed on phytoplankton and as they mature they start to consume larger organisms. Adult herring feed on zooplankton, tiny animals that are found in oceanic surface waters, and small fish and fish larvae. Copepods and other tiny crustaceans are the most common zooplankton eaten by herring. During daylight herring stay in the safety of deep water, feeding at the surface only at night when there is less chance of being seen by predators. They swim along with their mouths open, filtering the plankton from the water as it passes through their gills.

Species

• Clupea bentincki Norman, 1936 (Araucanian herring)
• Clupea harengus Linnaeus, 1758 (Atlantic herring)
• Clupea manulensis Marion de Procé, 1822 -validity questionable-
• Clupea pallasii Valenciennes, 1847 (Pacific herring)
  • Clupea pallasii marisalbi L. S. Berg, 1923 (White Sea herring)
  • Clupea pallasii pallasii Valenciennes, 1847 (Pacific herring)
  • Clupea pallasii suworowi Rabinerson, 1927 (Chosa herring)

Economy

Commercial herring catch

Postage stamp, Iceland, 1940.

Adult herring are harvested for their meat and eggs, and they are often used as baitfish. The trade in herring is an important sector of many national economies. In Europe the fish has been called the "silver of the sea", and its trade has been so significant to many countries that it has been regarded as the most commercially important fishery in history.

Environmental Defense have suggested that the Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) fishery is one of the more environmentally responsible fisheries.

Cuisine

Fried herring with mashed potatoes

Herring has been a staple food source since at least 3000 B.C. There are numerous ways the fish is served and many regional recipes: eaten raw, fermented, pickled, or cured by other techniques.

Nutrition and pollution

Herring are very high in the long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. They are a source of vitamin D.

Water pollution influences the amount of herring that may be safely consumed. For example, large Baltic herring slightly exceeds recommended limits with respect to PCB and dioxin, although some sources point out that cancer-reducing effect of omega-3 fatty acids is statistically stronger than the cancer-causing effect of PCBs and dioxins. The contaminant levels depend on the age of the fish which can be inferred from their size. Baltic herrings larger than 17 cm may be eaten twice a month, while herrings smaller than 17 cm can be eaten freely. Mercury in fish also influences the amount of fish that women who are pregnant or planning to be pregnant within the next one or two years may safely eat.

Pickled herring

Pickled herring, sour cream and chopped chives, potatoes and an egg half served at midsummer.

Pickled herring is a delicacy in Europe, and has become a part of Baltic, Nordic, Dutch, German (Bismarckhering), Polish, Eastern Slavic and Jewish cuisine. Most cured herring uses a two-step curing process. Initially, herring is cured with salt to extract water. The second stage involves removing the salt and adding flavorings, typically a vinegar, salt, sugar solution to which ingredients like peppercorn, bay leaves and raw onions are added. In recent years also other flavors have been added due to foreign influences. However, the tradition is strong in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, The Netherlands, Iceland and Germany. Onion, sherry, mustard and dill are some of the traditional flavourings.

In the Nordic countries and Germany, once the pickling process is finished and depending on which of the dozens of classic herring flavourings (mustard, onion, garlic, lingonberries etc.) are selected, it is eaten with dark rye bread, crisp bread, sour cream, or potatoes. This dish is common at Christmas, Easter and Midsummer, where it is eaten with akvavit. Often, it is incorporated in a Fischbrötchen.

In the 19th century, people in Berlin developed a special treat known in English as soused herring or rollmops.

Pickled herring is common in Russian cuisine, where it can be served as simple as just cut into pieces seasoned with sunflower oil and onions, or can be part of herring salads, which are usually prepared with vegetables and seasoned with mayonnaise dressing.

Pickled herrings are common in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, perhaps best known for forshmak salad known in English simply as "chopped herring".

Pickled herring can also be found in the cuisine of Hokkaidō in Japan, where families traditionally preserved large quantities for winter.

Rollmops are pickled herring fillets rolled (hence the name) into a cylindrical shape around a piece of pickled gherkin or an onion. The word is borrowed from the German.

Pickled herring is one of the twelve dishes served on Ukrainian Christmas Eve.

Fermented

In Sweden, Baltic herring ("Strömming") is fermented to make surströmming.

Raw

Raw herring roe is often used for sushi or eaten by itself

A typical Dutch delicacy is Hollandse Nieuwe (Dutch New), which is raw herring from the catches around the end of spring and the beginning of summer. This is typically eaten with raw onion. Hollandse nieuwe is only available in spring when the first seasonal catch of herring is brought in. This is celebrated in festivals such as the Vlaardingen Herring Festival and Vlaggetjesdag in Scheveningen. The new herring are frozen and enzyme-preserved for the remainder of the year. The first barrel of Hollandse Nieuwe is traditionally sold at auction for charity.

Dried

In the Philippines, dried herring is popularly eaten during breakfast, along with garlic rice and eggs.

Very young herring are called whitebait and are eaten whole as a delicacy.

Smoked

Kippered "split" herring.

A kipper is a split and smoked herring, a bloater is a whole smoked herring and a buckling is a hot smoked herring with the guts removed. All are staples of British cuisine. According to George Orwell in The Road to Wigan Pier, the Emperor Charles V erected a statue to the inventor of bloaters.

Smoked herring is a traditional meal on the Danish island in the Baltic Sea, Bornholm. This is also the case in Sweden where one can get hard fried/smoked "Strömming" named "Sotare" in places like Skansen, Stockholm.

Other means

Dutch Herring stall

Medieval herring fishing in Scania (published 1555).

In Scotland the herring is traditionally filleted and after being coated in seasoned pin-head oatmeal is fried in a pan with butter or oil. This dish is usually served with "crushed" buttered boiled potatoes. Smoked herring is a traditional meal on the Danish island in the Baltic Sea, Bornholm.

In Sweden, herring soup is also a traditional dish.

In Southeast Alaska, western hemlock boughs are cut and placed in the ocean before the herring arrive to spawn. The fertilized herring eggs stick to the boughs, and are easily collected. After being boiled briefly the eggs are removed from the bough. Herring eggs collected in this way are eaten plain or in herring egg salad. This method of collection is part of Tlingit tradition.

See also

• Atlantic herring
• Soused herring
• Shmaltz herring
• Brathering
• Scania Market
• Kipper
• Underwater video (looping) of a school of Atlantic herring Clupea harengus on its migration to their spawning grounds in the Baltic Sea.

References

Notes

• Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). Species of Clupea in FishBase. January 2006 version.
• O'Clair, Rita M. and O'Clair, Charles E., "Pacific herring," Southeast Alaska's Rocky Shores: Animals. pg. 343-346. Plant Press: Auke Bay, Alaska (1998). ISBN 0-9664245-0-6

External links

• Herring "communicate" by flatulence from national geographic
• Atlantic Herring from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute
• Nutrition Facts for Herring