Jean McCrae Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife 1994 Ecology Pacific herring range from Baja California to Alaska and across the Pacific to Japan, China, and Russia.
Adults are pelagic and migrate inshore to breed.
Spawning habitats are typically marine vegetation or rocky substrate in protected inlets, bays, and estuaries, from intertidal to about 30 feet in depth. Locations of spawning grounds are consistent from year to year. Very little spawning occurs on the open coast. Pacific herring spawn in several Oregon estuaries. There is a difference in the timing of spawning between the north and south parts of the range.