Spawning and Feeding Behavior of Captive Pacific Herring, Clupea harengus pallasi

1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. E. Stacey ◽  
A. S. Hourston

Laboratory observations indicate that spawning of Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) involves very similar if not identical behavior in males and females, and no identifiable behavioral interactions between the sexes. The presence of a sexual pheromone in herring milt is indicated because spawning behavior is rapidly initiated in ripe (ovulated and spermiated) herring of either sex following exposure either to herring milt or to a filtrate of ripe herring testes. Exposure to herring eggs or to filtrates of hake (Merluccius productus) or Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) testes did not elicit such responses. Four components of spawning behavior induced by herring testis filtrate are identified and described: rising and milling, papilla extension, substrate testing, and substrate spawning. Testis filtrates also elicited rising and milling in spent, developing, and mature (unovulated and unspermiated) fish but rising was not followed by papilla extension, substrate testing, or substrate spawning in fish at these earlier stages of gonadal development. Herring at all stages of maturity also displayed rising and milling in response to an olfactory stimulus (filtrate of crushed euphausiids). This feeding response was weakest in the mature and ripe stages, when fish under natural conditions are reported not to feed, and was strongest in the spent stage, when wild fish resume feeding. In terms of the common components of the response to testis and euphausid filtrates (increased swimming speed, rising, and milling), differential responses to these two stimuli were seen only in ripe fish, suggesting herring at other stages of gonadal development may simply perceive milt as a food stimulus.Key words: Clupea harengus pallasi, spawning behavior, pheromone, feeding


1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 1269-1273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Thorne

An echo integrator, working in combination with an echo sounder, measures the total voltage of the fish echoes received from a given depth interval and sums these voltages over time. Investigations were made on the relation between integrated echo voltage and fish density for juvenile sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in Lake Washington and Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) and Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) in Puget Sound. When fish were distributed at densities at which they could be acoustically resolved as individual targets, the relation between net catch and integrated voltage was linear. At higher densities when the fish echoes were multiple targets, the net catch was related to the square of the integrated voltage.



1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 1138-1143 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Hay

The most important factors affecting the degree of larval shrinkage of Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) larvae during fixation are the salinity and formalin concentrations and initial larval size. In low formalin concentrations (2–5% formalin) shrinkage increased from less than 2% shrinkage at low salinities to about 10% shrinkage in seawater formalin. In high formalin concentrations (20–30% formalin) shrinkage was fairly uniform, ranging from about 3% shrinkage in low salinities to about 5% in seawater. Shrinkage in fixatives stored at 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30 °C was slightly higher (1–2%) at the higher temperatures. Buffering agents and starvation had no effect on shrinkage. Small, young larvae shrank relatively more than larger older larvae.Key words: herring larvae, fixation, shrinkage, formalin, salinity



1996 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Carolsfeld ◽  
A.P. Scott ◽  
P.M. Collins ◽  
N.M. Sherwood


1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Bilinski ◽  
R. E. E. Jonas ◽  
Y. C. Lau

Freshly caught Pacific herring, Clupea harengus pallasi, were stowed in ice or refrigerated seawater (RSW) at −0.8 °C for 0, 2, and 4 d and were then filleted and stored frozen (−28 °C) for up to 11 mo. The development of rancidity was determined using the peroxide value and the thiobarbituric acid number. During the chill stowage before freezing, the lipids from the flesh were not subjected to any significant oxidation. In Cryovac-vacuum-packed fillets the rancidity remained at low levels during the duration of frozen storage. If oxygen was present during frozen storage, chill stowage accelerated the development of rancidity and this effect was more pronounced in the case of RSW than ice, especially after 4 d of stowage. Key words: Pacific herring, Clupea harengus pallasi, rancidity, icing, refrigerated seawater, frozen storage





1988 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 888-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Hall ◽  
R. Hilborn ◽  
M. Stocker ◽  
C. J. Walters

A simulated Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) population is used to evaluate alternative management strategies of constant escapement versus constant harvest rate for a roe herring fishery. The biological parameters of the model are derived from data on the Strait of Georgia herring stock. The management strategies are evaluated using three criteria: average catch, catch variance, and risk. The constant escapement strategy provides highest average catches, but at the expense of increased catch variance. The harvest rate strategy is favored for its reduced variance in catch and only a slight decrease in mean catch relative to the fixed escapement strategy. The analysis is extended to include the effects of persistent recruitment patterns. Stock–recruitment analysis suggests that recruitment deviations are autocorrelated. Correlated deviations may cause bias in regression estimates of stock–recruitment parameters (overestimation of stock productivity) and increase in variation of spawning stock biomass. The latter effect favors the constant escapement strategy, which fully uses persistent positive recruitment fluctuations. Mean catch is depressed for the harvest rate strategy, since the spawning biomass is less often located in the productive region of the stock–recruitment relationship. The model is used to evaluate the current management strategy for Strait of Georgia herring. The strategy of maintaining a minimum spawning biomass reserve combines the safety of the constant escapement strategy and the catch variance reducing features of the harvest rate strategy.



1985 ◽  
Vol 42 (S1) ◽  
pp. s174-s180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Stocker ◽  
Vivian Haist ◽  
David Fournier

We used an age-structured model to estimate recruitment for the Strait of Georgia Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) population. The model used for herring is a version of the model described in Fournier and Archibald (1982. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 39: 1195–1207), modified to include spawn survey information. Three structural assumptions are made to include the spawn data: (1) the form of the relationship between the actual spawn and the observed spawn, (2) the form of the relationship between escapement and actual spawn, and (3) the existence of a Ricker spawn–recruitment relationship, with a multiplicative environmental component. In order to determine which environmental factors had a significant effect on recruitment, we attempted to explain the residual variation from the Ricker curve with the environmental variables using exploratory correlations. Temperature, river discharge, sea level, and sunlight were examined. A multiplicative, environmental-dependent Ricker spawn–recruitment model was used to identify significant environmental variables. The model suggests a significant dome-shaped relationship between temperature and spawning success with an optimal temperature during larval stages resulting in maximum production of recruits. Also, increased spawning success is associated with increased summer river discharge. The significant environmental variables were included in the age-structured model in a stock–environment–recruitment relationship, and all model parameters were reestimated. The overall model fit improved only marginally with the inclusion of environmental variables, as indicated by the objective function value. However, the S–R component of the objective function dropped by 23% when environmental variables were included.





1987 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1181-1194 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Hay ◽  
A. R. Kronlund

Records of the date, location, and magnitude of Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) spawnings in British Columbia, collected since 1928, were compiled and analysed. In the early years of spawn surveys, adjacent spawnings were often reported as single events. Gradually, this practice has changed so that each spawning has a separate record. As a consequence of this change in methods, the mean length of spawnings has decreased in recent years but the total numbers of records has increased. Estimates of mean spawning width and intensity have also changed, partly due to changing survey methods as well as changing spawning distributions. A spawn abundance index is developed to account for these temporal changes. Abiotic factors affecting the distribution and abundance of spawn deposition include sea surface temperatures and the fishery. Biological factors affecting spawn distribution and abundance are not as well defined, but it is shown that in some situations, spawn dimensions may change as a function of stock abundance.



1982 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 1361-1365 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Schweigert ◽  
D. Fournier

A series of mathematical models were examined to predict the density of Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) spawn in 1-m2 quadrats from diver observations of the dominant vegetation substrate, the number of layers of eggs on the vegetation, and the density of the vegetation in the quadrat (percent cover). The most appropriate model was chosen statistically and used to make predictions for comparison with egg counts. Outliers were identified and if a plausible biological interpretation was found, these were deleted from the data series. The model provides an efficient and precise means for estimating herring spawn density from diver observations and could be incorporated into a sampling survey design for estimating spawn abundance for stock assessment.Key words: mathematical model, Pacific herring, Clupea harengus pallasi; spawn density, stock assessment



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