[Family Clupeidae, various genera and species]

A family of generally small oily fish of tremendous commercial importance worldwide. Herring can grow to over 18 inches and 1.5 pounds but is generally caught and harvested much smaller.

More on Fish Varieties (very large page).

Atlantic Herring - [Clupea harengus harengus]
The most abundant and economically important herring, this round bodied fish can grow to nearly 18 inches and 1.5 pounds but the photo specimen was 13-1/2 inches and weighed 14-3/4 ounces, pickled whole. Atlantic herring is commonly sold pickled or smoked but is eaten raw in Holland and fresh in Northern Europe, particularly Poland.

Whitebait are immature herrings and generally eaten whole. Sild are small immature herrings canned like Sardines in Norway. Marine ecologists classify Atlantic herring as a sustainable harvest.   Details and Cooking.

Blue Herring - [Skipjack Shad, Alosa chrysochloris]
While most herring are found in cold ocean waters this one likes subtropical temperatures and ventures far up rivers, having been found as far north as Minnesota in the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. This fish can grow to 19 inches and 3-3/4 pounds the photo specimen, caught wild off Florida, was 9-1/2 inches and weighed 5 ounces.   Prep & Cooking Details.

Herring Pickled, Canned, Kippered & Dried
Herring is an oily fish that preserves well in various ways, and all these ways are exploited. The photo shows two varieties of pickled herring from Poland, a major herring eating country. Yummm! More on Preserved Herring

Kilka - [Tyulka, Kilka (Russ); Black Sea Sprat, Clupeonella cultriventris - Similar: Anchovy Kilka, Anchovy Sprat (fb), Clupeonella engrauliformis and (lesser importance) Bigeye Kilka, Southern Caspian sprat, Clupeonella grimmi]

Cultriventris is a brackish to fresh water fish native to the Black, Azov and northern Caspian Seas and nearby lakes and rivers. Grimmi and engrauliformis live in central and southern Caspian only. All can grow to just over 5-1/2 inches, engrauliformis a little longer, and are major fish for canning in the region. I have also seen some cans of Latvian Baltic sprats labeled Kilka, but that isn't right. The photo specimen, which was salt pickled, was 5 inches long and weighed 3/4 ounce.

Caspian stocks have recently dropped 50% due to an American comb jelly named Mnemiopsis leidyi eating all their food and the fishery is now endangered. This also happened to the Black Sea but another American jellyfish named Beroe ovata came along and ate most of the Mnemiopsis. This solution is likely to be applied in the Caspian. Beroe eats only Mnemiopsis and disappears when they are all eaten.   Details and Cooking

Kelee Shad - [Tenualosa kelee or Hilsa kelee]
Hilsa Shad - [Tenualosa ilisha]
Toli Shad - [Chinese Herring, Tenualosa toli]
These three fish are all but indistinguishable one from another. They are highly commercial Indo-West Pacific fish found from the Persian Gulf to the South China Sea and the Java Sea, these fish can grow to 23 inches (13 for kelee) but the specimen in the photo was 10 inches and weighed 6 ounces. These shad are marketed fresh and dried and are not considered threatened. Some Hilsa shad has been successfully farmed in India.   Prep & Cooking Details

Tunsoy - [Genus Sardinella various species and Dussumieria acuta]

Tunsoy is the Philippine name for various Indo-Pacific herring. The photo example was rehydrated from a package of salted and dried herring obtained from a Philippine grocery. These fish are about 5-1/2 inches long and weigh about 1/2 ounce (after a 5 hour soak).   Prep & Cooking Details

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