Atlantic herring  (Clupea harengus)

The Atlantic herring is found over much of the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, from the Bay of Biscay northward to Iceland and southern Greenland. It extends north-eastward to Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean, as well as into the Baltic. To the west, it ranges along the east coast of North America, from south-western Greenland and Labrador, down to South Carolina. Around UK waters, the herring occurs in the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the North Sea. There are a number of different races of the fish, found across its eastern range, in the Baltic and North Sea, and in Norwegian and Icelandic waters. The various races spawn at different times of the year.

This species is 'pelagic' in its distribution throughout the ocean, in the surface waters down to a depth of about 200 metres. These fish stay away from the immediate coastal areas outside the spawning season. Herring avoid the deeper parts of the ocean, and are often found in vast surface shoals, covering several square kilometres of water.