In October/November 2022, a large school of whitebait (immature fish) was spotted in Lochinver Bay, attracting an amazing number of feeding birds and seals. With the help of the community (including the pie shop who packed them), Andy, the Assynt ranger, was able to send a sub-sample to the WOSHH team to find out if any of the fish were juvenile herring, as had been suspected by the locals – AND RIGHT THEY WERE! This is the first time juvenile herring have been spotted in the area in nearly 50 years.  

The West of Scotland Herring Hunt (WOSHH) 2023 field work season has begun with shore-based environmental (e)DNA sampling. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is the DNA, shed by an organism (e.g., scales, excrement, etc.) or whole microorganisms, present in the environment. eDNA from water samples can be extracted, sequenced and linked back to species that were in the area. This makes it a potentially powerful, non-invasive tool to detect elusive spawning herring shoals through shore-based sampling.

Do YOU have stories to share? We hope you like the amazing historical and ecological images of herring and their past importance on this website. We want to feature YOUR herring-related stories on this website too – be it photos, videos, artwork, tales, activities, or anything else you would like to share. Please get in […]