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| Facts about Forage Fish |
- They forage fish may hunt prey individually or swim. With their mouths open and filter plankton out water passes through their gills. Herring has been an important part of the commercial. Fishing industry for over a centuryOverexploitation resulted in multiple crashes to the herring fishing market during the 1900s.
- Today there are regulations in place that set catch limits for some species. But many populations are now threatened by habitat loss and chemical pollution much of the herring. Caught is utilized as bait for the lobster and tuna fishing industries. Herring are also sold frozen salted, and canned for human.
The forage fish will release sperm and eggs
- Consumption Herring eggs are harvested and sold as a delicacy in some parts of the world. Schools of herring will spawn as a group every year. The time of year for spawning depends on the species and location.
- The forage fish will release sperm and eggs into the water. Eggs stick to the vegetation, rocks, or sand at the bottom of the seafloor.
- Females can produce around 40,000 eggs per spawning season. During this event, the ocean floor may become several centimeters thick with eggs. Eggs hatch in around 2 weeks. Only one in ten thousand eggs will survive until adulthoodJuveniles form large schools and do not join the adults until they mature at about four years of age.
- They forage fish grow about one foot (.3 m) long and may live over a decade. Herring is an important part of the food webAnimals such as seabirds, salmon, and marine mammals rely on them for consumption dark coloration on their backs and light coloration on their undersides makes them hard to be seen by predators from above or below.
This is called countershadingSome predators may attempt to herd herring into forming bait balls.This is when the school packs tightly together in their last defense against predation
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