Norwegian Spring Spawning Herring (Clupea Harengus L.): Protection Of Spawning Areas In Relation To Changes In Migration Pattern

No abstracts are to be cited without prior reference to the author.The main spawning and fishing areas for the Norwegian spring spawning herring during the last century and the first. half of the present century were located south of 60°N. From the late 1940s changes in the migration patterns of the herring led to a northward shift in the location of spawning activities, and by the beginning of the 1960s the spawning occurred only in areas located north of 62°N. Further, in the late 1960s this stock was depleted due to a large increase in fishing effort on all life stages of the herring. At the start of the rebuilding period the spawning occurred north of 62°N. However, in 1989, after an absence of 30 years, the herring began spawning in the historically important areas south of 60°N. A fishing ban was introduced in these areas, and this paper evaluate this spawning habitat protection with regard to a rebuilding of the stock and ecosystem development.