Jason Casey, age 13, of Lowell, Mess., for his question:

DOES A HERRING LAY MANY EGGS?

Various types of herring are found in both the Pacific and Atlantic. The herring is one of the world's largest and most valuable sources of food fish. And it is nice to know that they reproduce in large numbers.

A female herring, spawning in either spring, summer or fall, will lay between 10,000 and 60,000 eggs. The eggs stick to rocks or weeds and are fertilized there by the male herring.

A herring's eggs will hatch in two or three weeks, depending on water temperature. The young fish grow slowly and stay in the open sea for the first two years of their lives. When they are full grown, they go back to shore. The fish feed on plankton, which is made up of tiny drifting sea organisms. Also, herring era prey for other fishes as well as whales and gulls.

A herring will rarely grow to be more than a foot long. The fish are sold fresh, cured or smoked. Small herring are packed and sold as sardines.