Fish · GBIF taxon 4284072
Pacific Herring
Clupea pallasiiAlso known as Eastern Herring, North Pacific Herring
Pacific herring form vast, shimmering shoals that navigate cold coastal waters from Baja California to the Bering Sea. As a crucial keystone species, they transform abundant plankton into rich energy for seals, seabirds, salmon, and whales. Every spring, millions move into shallow estuaries to coat eelgrass and kelp beds in milky white clouds of eggs, driving a massive seasonal pulse across the entire marine food web.
Schooling FishKeystone SpeciesMarine
—observations
—countries
—peak records
Least ConcernConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXLeast ConcernRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Copepods
- Euphausiids
- Fish Larvae
Predators
- Humpback Whale
- Chinook Salmon
- Bald Eagle
ThreatsOverfishing, loss of eelgrass habitat, and ocean warming
HabitatsCoastal ocean waters, estuaries, and intertidal bays
Life span10 to 19 years
Size / weightNot available
Classification
- FamilyClupeidae
- SpeciesClupea pallasii
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Safe to observe at a normal distance.
- What to notice
- Recognizable as silvery fish with deeply forked tails, forming dense midwater schools near coastal bays.
- Support conservation
- Avoid disturbing submerged vegetation during spring spawning events to protect delicate attached egg masses.
Responsible observation
- Spawning events: Watch for milky turquoise water in sheltered bays during early spring spawning runs.
- Wildlife tracking: Look for dense congregations of diving seabirds and sea lions signaling schooling herring below.
Predator (c) Owen Strickland, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Owen Strickland · cc-by
Spawn Substrate no rights reserved · cc0
Close Relative (c) harum.koh, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by harum.koh · cc-by-sa
Close Relative (c) Simon Rolph, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Simon Rolph · cc-by
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