Atlantic herring Clupea harengus is the most abundant fish species of the world, living in large schools (swarm). Growing up to 45 centimeters in length and more than half a kilogram in weight, they feed on copepods, krill and small fish and are food for seals, whales, cod and other larger fish.
The Atlantic herring fishery has long been an important part of the economy of New England and the Canadian Maritime provinces, because the fish congregates relatively near the coast in massive schools, notably in the cold waters of the semi-enclosed Gulf of Maine and Gulf of St. Lawrence. North Atlantic herring schools have been measured up to 4 cubic kilometers in size, containing an estimated 4 billion fish.
Underwater video (looping) of a school on its migration to their spawning grounds in the Baltic. With such high speed they can migrate over thousands of kilometers. In the North Atlantic they cruise between Norway and Greenland every year.
A typical school of herring heads to shore during mating season, usually during the fall. Each female lays from 50,000 to 90,000 eggs, which sink to the ground and stick to it via an adhesive covering.
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