Wanted: Herring Observations
Herring in eelgrass ~ Eiko Jones
Herring spawn on Sargassum ~ Terry Thormin
As you may know, Project Watershed has been researching forage fish and their habitats for many years now. To date our work has focused on beach spawning forage fish, specifically Pacific sand lance and surf smelt. This has been largely due to the fact that until recently we didn’t know that they were spawning on beaches and felt a need to quickly gather information to start filling this knowledge gap.
Herring are another important forage fish that support the marine food web and are present in our area. We are reaching out to people in our network to help gather information on these small schooling fish. While these populations are surveyed regularly, it is mostly done by air. These aerial surveys would miss small spawns, spawning during cloudy/foggy weather, and any spawning done outside the survey window.
If you see Pacific herring spawn – that is eggs on the beach or the classic milky white water, please report your observations! Snap a photo, and add your observations including the date and location, to iNaturalist. You can add yourself, and your observations to our project called Pacific Herring Spawn and Nurseries. You will need to register for an account, which is free and only requires that you have an email and create a password.