Recent migration routes of Norwegian spring spawning herring

Abstract

The migration routes of Norwegian spring spawning herring have changed considerably during the last decades. In the 1950s and beginning of the 1960s the stock spawned off the west coast of Norway in late winter, were distributed in the feeding season in the Iceland-Jan Mayen area, and wintered east of Iceland. In the mid 1960s a large part of the stock wintered and spawned of northern Norway and were distributed in the northern part of the Norwegian sea during the feeding season. The stock collapsed in the late 1960s, and during the rebuildning period the stock wintered in different fjords on the Norwegian coast, spawned at Møre and were located in near coastal waters of Norway in the feeding season. However, from 1988 when the strong 1983 year class recruited to the spawning stock a new change in the migration pattern was observed. At present the stock spawns at several locations along the Norwegian coast, including the traditional spawning grounds at Karmøy in south-western Norway where spawning was resumed in 1989. In the feeding season the herring is distributed over large areas in the Norwegian Sea. In late July and August the herring migrates eastwards, and in September enters the wintering areas in northern Norway.