SECTION 4 

 Atlantic herring [CI uvea havengus havengus] 



Life History Summary 



Atlantic herring (also called sea herring) are found on both sides of the 

 Atlantic Ocean. During summer in the western North Atlantic, they are found 

 as far north as northern Labrador and the west coast of Greenland and during 

 winter as far south as Cape Hatteras (Bigelow and Schroeder 1953). There 

 appear to be three centers of abundance off the eastern United States coast: 

 off southern Nova Scotia, in the western Gulf of Maine, and on Georges Bank 

 (Sindermann 1979). Although these three stocks are thought to be separate, 

 there is evidence that there may be some mixing (Anthony 1982). From December 

 to April migrating herring may be found in the Middle Atlantic Bight as far 

 south as North Carolina. These fish apparently are the Georges Bank stock 

 with possible intermixing of some Gulf of Maine fish. During the spring, the 

 herring migrate north and east back to Georges Bank. This migration pattern 

 may have developed to coincide with localized peaks in zooplankton production 

 (Sherman et al. 1983). The Georges Bank stock remains in the Georges Bank- 

 Nantucket Shoals area until spawning is over in late September or early 

 October. During the winter, Gulf of Maine herring may come as far south as 

 southern New England and the Nova Scotian stock may migrate as far south as 

 Massachusetts Bay. 



The recreational herring fishery is small and relatively unimportant; 

 however, there is a substantial commercial fishery for Atlantic herring. In 

 the Gulf of Maine both juveniles (sardines) and adult herring are taken, 

 whereas on Georges 3ank only adult nerring are caugnt. Recently, however, 



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