The Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus, is widely distributed in continental shelf waters from Labrador to Cape Hatteras. Important commercial fisheries for juvenile herring (ages 1 to 3) have existed since the last century along the coasts of Maine and New Brunswick.

Development of large-scale fisheries for adult herring is comparatively recent, primarily occurring in the western Gulf of Maine, on Georges Bank, and on the Scotian Shelf. Gulf of Maine herring migrate from summer feeding grounds along the Maine coast to southern New England and Mid-Atlantic areas during winter, with larger individuals tending to migrate further distances. Tagging experiments have also provided evidence of intermixing of Gulf of Maine-Scotian Shelf herring during different phases of the annual migration.

Spawning in the Gulf of Maine occurs during late August-October, beginning in northern locations and progressing southward. Atlantic herring are not fully mature until age 4. Age at maturity varies annually and appears to change in response to density dependent effects. Herring eggs are demersal and are typically deposited on gravel substrates.

Primary spawning locations off the northeastern United States are located on the Maine coast, Jeffreys Ledge, Nantucket Shoals, and Georges Bank. Incubation is temperature dependent, but usually occurs within 7 to 10 days. Larvae metamorphose by late spring into juvenile brit herring that may form large aggregations in coastal waters during summer. By age 2, juvenile herring are fully vulnerable to coastal fisheries using both fixed and mobile gear.

In the past, the herring resource along the East Coast of the United States was divided into the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank stocks. There is genetic and tagging evidence that both support and refute this stock division. Of greater concern to those managing the resource is the fact that fishery-independent measures of abundance for herring include contributions of fish originating from both spawning areas.

As a consequence, herring from the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank have been combined for assessment purposes into a single coastal stock complex. This approach has many advantages over the separate stock approach, but also poses a number of technical and management challenges.

Total landings for the coastal stock complex have changed substantially since the 1960s. Landings averaged 94,500 mt from 1992 to 1996, whereas three decades ago they exceeded 300,000 mt. Recreational landings have been negligible.

Changes in commercial landings trends are best understood by examining changes in regional fisheries that exploit the stock complex.

The fishery in the Gulf of Maine consists of fixed and mobile gear fisheries in coastal waters. Landings in the coastal fishery have averaged 79,700 mt over the last two decades. There has been a great deal of annual variability in the landings, but there is little evidence of any long-term trend.

However, there have been changes in the distribution of landings between the two principal gear types: mobile and fixed gear. Over the past five years, more than 90 percent of Maine herring landings were taken by mobile gear, compared with less than 50 percent during the 1970s.

This shift appears to be related to reduced availability of herring to the fixed-gear fisheries. In addition, mobile gear landings include increasing catches made by mid-water trawlers. Due to recent declines in export markets for adult herring, a significant proportion of the catch has not been used for human consumption.

The herring fishery on Georges Bank was initiated in 1961 by distant-water fleets. Landings peaked in 1968 at 373,600 MT and subsequently declined to only 43,500 MT in 1976 as the fishery collapsed.  There has been no directed fishery for Atlantic Herring on George's Bank since that time.

Estimates of the stock biomass (all ages) for the coastal stock complex were in excess of 1 million MT before the collapse associated with the Georges Bank fishery.  After the collapse, stock size estimates declined to less than 100,000 MT.  In the early 1980's, fishing by distant-water fleets ended and the stock complex began to rebuild.

Stock biomass has increased significantly in recent years, primarily due to increased spawning first on Nantucket Shoals and later on Georges Bank.  The offshore spawning component, which represents the largest historic component of the stock complex, appears to have recovered from its collapse during the early 1970's. 

Stock biomass is expected to remain high in the near future, as recent recruitment appears to have been strong.

A management plan has been adopted by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) which provides guidance on the allocation of herring to internal waters processing operations and regulations concerning spawning closures.

A Preliminary Management Plan is also in force which provides guidance on the development of joint venture processing in the exclusive economic zone.  A Fishery Management Plan is being developed by the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) in coordination with the ASMFC>

Herring

Our Atlantic Herring is produced at our own processing  plant located in New England.  The plant is capable of producing up to 6,000MT of high quality Whole Round Herring on a monthly basis.

All herring is caught between the Gulf of Maine and George's Bank, a popular breeding ground for East Coast pelagic's.

The herring will vary in size during the year with the majority of the catches falling between 100 and 200 gram, with some production under 100 gram and some over 200.

The product is mid-water trawl caught, held in RSW (Refrigerated Sea Water) tanks on both the catching vessels and the plant and then graded to size, packed in to custom poly coated cartons and then frozen in vertical or horizontal plate freezers.

The herring is mostly available packed in cartons of 20kg in size and are export ready for all shipments.  Nude/Naked blocks are also available for export or domestic sale.  Other sizes available are 10kg and 15kg.

Shipping in Refrigerated Overseas Containers can be done directly from the plant via the ports of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Montreal, Quebec, Boston, MA or  Portland, ME and also via tramper/bulk service from our waterside plant in New Bedford, MA.

Contract service is available as well as individual single container shipments.

or via mobile phone at +1-401-965-8722 or fax at +1-508 979 5601

Other information we have on Atlantic Herring ...

The Herring Story

The humble herring once determined the fate of kings and empires. The powerful Hanseatic League of Germany and Scandinavia collapsed in the 15th century when herring stopped spawning in the Baltic Sea. Treaties worth millions of dollars were negotiated for herring rights in the New World. But, in America, herring was strictly a food of the laboring class for several decades, starting with the Boston Irish in the 1880s. 

The American palate is most accustomed to herring as canned sardines. There are two types of commercially important herring. Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus harengus) is found across the North Atlantic; Pacific herring (C. harengus pallasi) range from northern California to Alaska and from eastern Russia south to Japan.

Herring is gillnetted, seined and caught with midwater trawls. The fish is also trapped in shore-based weirs in New Brunswick, Canada and Maine. Market size is 5 to 9 inches.

Product Profile

Fresh herring ranges from delicately flavored small fish to larger fish with a fuller, "oilier" flavor. Otherwise, flavor and texture depend on how the herring has been prepared – whether pickled, smoked or salted.

Fresh, whole herring should be bright with hard bellies. Scales are large, loosely attached and cover the entire body. The meat of fresh herring is off-white and soft; sardines range from light to dark brown, with small bones visible; kippers are clear, light meat without bones.

Herring is a bony fish, but in most of its popular forms (marinated and as sardines), the fine bones are not a problem. They are soft and perfectly safe to eat once cooked. And they are a good source of calcium.

Though fresh herring can be cooked in nearly any fashion except poaching or steaming, it's rare to find well-handled fresh product in the United States.

Most of the herring eaten here is in canned, pickled or smoked form. Because of the high oil content, herring is a good candidate for smoking, and the fish's soft meat firms up if pickled in brine. The Scots fry fresh herring, rolling it in coarse oatmeal first.