Join the Herring Hunt
Many of you will have witnessed the feeding frenzy at sea in the autumn when large numbers of seabirds and seals fed on the shoals of fish round our coast (pic 1). If you missed it, there is an AFC article here Herring and Helicopter.
Well, Napier University have been in touch to tell us about a new citizen science project ‘The Herring Hunt’, in which they want anyone who is interested to record signs of herring and associated species in Scottish West Coast inshore waters. Don’t worry if you can’t tell a herring from a sprat (most people can’t!) – just recording the sight of a ‘feeding frenzy’ of seabirds or marine mammals (cetaceans or seals) is sufficient.
Herring used to be a huge source of income round the coast of Scotland, but their numbers have reduced drastically in recent years. The project aims to identify current and historic spawning areas, and look at changes in environment, climate and human activity. All this should help build a picture of the current situation, and identify how to manage stocks in the future. There is lots more information on the Scottish Herring website, which includes a great history of the herring industry, and a summary of the current situation for herring stocks.
If you want to take part in the survey, the information required is straightforward (pic 2). You can find everything you need to know on the Herring Hunt webpages here.
Charlie Leeson