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HERRING Clupea harengus

Atlantic herring is a pelagic, shoaling fish. It feeds on animal plankton and young fry and it is found from the surface down to depths of 250 m and at varying salinity. It is widespread in the North Atlantic and can be found all around Iceland.

There are three separate stocks of herring found in Icelandic waters: the Icelandic spring spawning herring with very low abundance, the Icelandic summer spawning herring and the Norwegian spring spawning herring (Atlanto-Scandian herring). They differ in rate of growth, time of spawning and in migration patterns. The Icelandic summer spawning herring has been utilized since the mid 1970s but before that the Atlanto-Scandian herring was of great commercial importance until its collapse in the late 1960s.The stock has, however, recovered fully in recent years.

Catch of Icelandic herring is seasonal, with main fishing in October to January off the east, west and south coast of Iceland. This stock spawns in July and later migrates in search of food. The spawning stock is estimated close to 780,000 tonnes in the summer of 2007.

The Atlanto-Scandian herring stock spawns off Norway in early spring and the immature fish stay in Norwegian waters but older fish search for food further out in the northeast Atlantic. Until the late 1960s shoals would approach the Icelandic coast in summer and often be caught in large quantities by the Icelandic fleet. In 2006, the spawning stock was estimated at approx. 10 million tonnes.

Herring is caught by herring and capelin seine and by pelagic trawl. The age at catch is often 4-7 years at lengths of 30-35 cm and weights of 200-300 g. The flesh of herring shows great variations in fat content according to season. Herring in good condition has firm flesh, rich in lipids.

Catch of Icelandic herring has increased steadily since 1975, amounting to 100-120,000 tonnes per year in recent years. Landings in 2006 were 131,000 tonnes. A TAC of 130,000 tonnes is set for the 2007/2008 fishing year in line with recommendations of the Marine Research Institute.

The Icelandic catch of Atlanto Scandian herring was 160,000 tonnes in 2006. The stock is harvested by a number of nations by an international agreement involving Norway, Russia, Faroe Islands, the European Union and Iceland. Most of the fishing is in international waters but also within Faroese waters and near Jan Mayen. In 1998, a fraction of the stock entered Icelandic waters after three decades of absence. The TAC for Icelandic vessels in 2007 is close to186,000 tonnes. 

The diagram shows the catch from the Icelandic herring stock since 2001, together with MRI recommendations and the national TAC.

A lesson for the future The collapse of the herring stocks in the late 1960s had a drastic effect on the Icelandic economy but clear signs of over-fishing and adverse environmental conditions were the cause of the disaster. Conversely, a co-ordinated effort for building up the stock again has been a model for fishery management in later years. In 1975, Icelandic herring became the first fishery to be subjected to a TAC and the stock has been fished at optimal levels since. The lesson learnt from the herring fishery proved valuable for the future.

Latest update July 2007