Herrings, exactly like the sardine, sprat and anchovy belong to the herring fish family. The herring is a schooling fish that is found not only in the Baltic and North Sea, but in the entire North Atlantic from Norway, through Greenland to North Carolina. It grows to a length of up to 40 centimetres and the oldest specimens reach an age of about 20 years. Herring schools can often be seen in the open sea with the naked eye due to their characteristically shiny appearance. Under water the back of the herring shines in colours that vary from yellowish green to blue-black and blue green. The belly is white, the flanks shiny silver. They live on animal plankton and are themselves often prey to other marine creatures. As a caught fish, however, the herring is rather inconspicuous with a plain green-blue colouring. It has scales without spines, smooth gill covers and the lower jaw is longer than the upper jaw. The ventral fin of the herring sits behind the front end of the dorsal fin. Between early March and late April herring are particularly fatty and delicious, as this is their spawning period in which they flock in their millions to ports and estuaries to spawn.

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