Nels Hansen Jr., age 13, of Hamilton, Ohio, for his question:
WHICH FISH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR FOOD?
Herring is considered the most important food fish in the world. It is used more widely by Europeans than it is by Americans, but it is very popular in many parts of the world.
The herring belongs to the same family as the shad, menhaden, sardine and alewife. You'll find them living along the sea coasts of the temperate and colder parts of the North Pacific and North Atlantic oceans, and also in inland lakes.
The Atlantic herring is one of the most numerous of all backboned animals. Vast numbers of herring are also found in the North Sea.
Herring have thin scales colored blue green to blackish above, brilliant silver on the sides and white below. Both jaws have small teeth. Small crustaceans are the herring's chief food.
Millions of herring swim close together near the surface of the water and often cover areas of from six to 20 square miles.
Fishermen call the great schools of herring shoals. They locate the shoals by watching for the vast number of sea birds that often hover over the schools, or by finding the light, or luminescence, caused in the sea water by the swimming herring.
Herring spend part of the time in deep water, then migrate to shallower coastal waters where they lay their eggs. A female will deposit from 20,000 to 60,000 eggs, depending on her size. The eggs settle to the bottom where they cover seaweed and rocks. Within a few weeks, the eggs hatch.
Herrings have a lot of enemies. In spite of the number of eggs which are laid, few develop into adult herring. Crabs and fish eat many of the eggs and young. The adult herring are eaten not only by other creatures of the sea, such as the whale, seal and haddock, but also by gulls and other birds.
About 10 billion herring are caught each year. Norway leads all countries in the number of fish caught.
Lots of herring is eaten fresh and much is pickled or smoked. Herring which are smoked but not salted are known as Yarmouth bloaters in England. Shimilarly prepared, but also split and cleaned, it is called kippered herring.
Canneries in Scotland and Norway pack herring in cans and ship large amounts to America and other countries around the world.
Fishermen usually catch herring in large nets. They go out to a spot where a large number of the fish can be seen, and let an immense net out. The crew then rows along the edges of the net in small boats, and forces the mass of fish nearer the center.
Then the fishing boat approaches and many thousands of shining creatures are raised in the net at one time and thrown into the boat.