Species profile
Pacific Herring
Clupea pallasii
At a glance
Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) is an IUCN Data Deficient bony-fish species regulated in 10 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.
The strictest bag limit is 10 (Washington); the most generous is 500 (Alaska).
Confirmed by 1,881 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with British Columbia, Washington, and Alaska the top jurisdictions by observation count.
Notable details
- Adults typically reach 9 to 12 inches long and are a cornerstone prey species of the North Pacific.
- Spawning females deposit sticky eggs directly onto kelp and eelgrass fronds in nearshore bays.
- Mass spawning events turn the water milky white, drawing whales, seals, eagles, and diving birds.
- Their roe, called kazunoko, is a prized delicacy in Japan and drives a major commercial fishery.
- Form some of the largest fish schools on Earth, sometimes numbering in the billions.
Where Pacific Herring are seen
Jurisdictions with rules for Pacific Herring
Background
The Pacific herring is a species of the herring family associated with the Pacific Ocean environment of North America and northeast Asia. It is a silvery fish with unspined fins and a deeply forked caudal fin. The distribution is widely along the California coast from Baja California north to Alaska and the Bering Sea; in Asia, the distribution is south to Japan, Korea, and China.
Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Pacific Herring article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.
Other bony fish on CatchRules
Photo credit: iNaturalist / Wikipedia. Identification reference only — verify regulations with the issuing wildlife agency before retaining a catch.