Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [98]-118).

Pacific herring, Clupea harengus pallasi, possesses a pheromone in the milt and testes that triggers spawning behaviour in reproductively mature individuals of both sexes, and plays a role in synchronizing the school spawning that is distinctive of this species. The pheromone was found to be effective as a transient olfactory stimulus in eliciting a behavioural response that varied in the degree of expression and time course. Stimulus strength was found to influence the time course of the response, whereas differences in maturity, evident through examination of plasma levels of steroids, were correlated with a propensity to respond to the pheromone. Input from factors other than the spawning pheromone appear to be needed to elicit prolonged spawning; some of these factors also act through olfaction. Immediate effects of stress were not found to influence the response to the spawning pheromone. Plasma levels of reproductive steroids of herring during the spawning season were measured with radioimmunoassays. Peak levels of 17,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20β-P) were found to coincide with final maturation in females and the initiation of milt production in males, suggesting that this steroid is the maturation-inducing steroid of this species. Other features found to be distinctive of the reproductive physiology of the herring included low plasma levels of the unconjugated maturation-inducing steroid, high levels of 17α-progesterone (17-P) and 3α,17α-dihydroxy-5β-pregnan-20-one (3α,17-P-5β), and high levels of glucuronated steroids. Structural investigation of the pheromone with liquid chromatography/ mass spectrometry showed that it consists of at least two components which do not elicit a behavioural response individually. One of these compounds is sulphated 17,20β-P. The structure of proteinaceous hormones involved in controlling reproduction of the herring was also investigated. It was shown that this species possesses three forms of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in the brain, one with a structure that has not been reported before. These results indicate that the presence of three GnRH forms is a primitive, rather than derived, condition in the teleosts. The structure of the (β-subunit of gonadotropin II (GtH ll-β) of herring was also deduced by isolation of a cDNA for this molecule. The structure of the herring GtH ll-β was found to be quite different from other teleost molecules of this kind, and a phylogenetic analysis of known GtH ll-β structures suggests that the β-subunit of both mammalian gonadotropins may be most closely related to the β-subunit of teleost GtH-l. / Graduate

Thesis (M.S. in environmental science)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 10, 2010). "School of Earth and Environmental Science." Includes bibliographical references (p. 31-34).

Eggs of Pacific herring were exposed to air for different periods of time in simulation of tidal effects on spawn deposits at varying beach heights. The maximum exposure range was 2/3 of a 24 hour day corresponding roughly to the exposure of eggs at 4 meters above mean low tide on the British Columbia coast. Egg size, spawning fish length, and egg clump size were examined as secondary factors modifying the effect of exposure. Incubation time dropped from 19 to 18 days with only two 2-hour periods of exposure per day and thereafter fell slowly. It is suggested that oxygen deprivation triggered a hatching response for the initial drop, whereas the gradual decrease was due to a higher air temperature increasing metabolism. Hatching mortality rose steadily from an unexposed 13% to 31% at maximum exposure time, with significantly higher contributions from eggs of smaller fish and smaller egg clumps. Larval length at hatching for the unexposed eggs was 7.7 mm.; lengths for all degrees of exposure were similar (7% less than for no exposure). Larval weight (body plus yolk) remained relatively constant (0.099 mg.) until the longest exposure period when it dropped to 0.087 mg. This decrease coincided with similar sharp trends in incubation time and hatching mortality, and suggests a "critical point" near the upper experimental range of exposure, above which eggs stand little chance of normal development or survival. Beach surveys to note possible egg size stratification, although suggesting the deposition of larger eggs at the top levels, proved inconclusive, but point up the possibility that a heavy fishing pressure which reduces mean fish size might detrimentally affect potential stock recruitment via the intertidal exposure effect on the spawn. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

The distribution of herring (Clupea harengus pallasi) in the Northeast Pacific extends from southern California to northern Alaska. Studies on variation in herring life-history are limited to local characteristics and recruitment populations or relatively restricted regions of the Northeast Pacific. In this study I assessed herring life-history patterns and recruitment variation among 14 sites extending from Lynn Channel in Alaska to San Francisco Bay in California. Biological data were compiled from published and of state and provincial unpublished technical reports fisheries agencies in the northeast Pacific. Multivariate (PCA) and inferential statistical methods were applied in data analysis. Ordinations of length-and weight-at-age revealed no latitudinal patterns among the 14 herring sites. Among four sites for which environmental data were available, there were significant negative correlations between first PC scores of size and Ekman layer transport and sea-surface salinity (SSS). Reproductive characteristics of herring appeared to vary latitudinally. Herring from the more southerly sites tended to mature at an earlier age and smaller size and have a longer duration of spawning than herring from northerly sites. There were significant negative first PC scores of reproductive correlations between variables and Ekman transport, sea-surface temperature, and SSS. With the exception of Lynn and Seymour Channels in Alaska, the most northerly sites in this study, asymptotic to northern size (L[subscript]���) tended to increase from southern latitudes. With the exception of southern Strait of Georgia (British Columbia) herring and Tomales Bay (California) herring, growth coefficients (K) appeared to be higher in latitudes. L[subscript]��� was negatively correlated with SST. Recruitment variation at three sites was related to Ekman layer transport during the periods of spawning. At San Francisco Bay recruitment was negatively related to winter Ekman transport. At Sitka and Island, recruitment showed a southwestern Vancouver significant positive and negative correlation, respectively, Recruitment in northern and with spring Ekman transport. southern Strait of Georgia were negatively correlated with SST during fall. There was no correlation between recruitment and SSS for all sites. / Graduation date: 1997

Studies were conducted during late winter and spring of 1970 to establish the extent of spawning of Pacific herring (Clupea harengus pallasi Valenciennes) in the Yaquina estuary, and to define the degree of egg mortality on certain substrates. Routine surveillance of the north shore of the estuary provided information on the length of the spawning season, the number of separate spawnings which occurred, the extent of spawning into brackish water, and the types of substrates utilized for spawn deposition. Random sampling of egg deposits at specific locations within the estuary, and at frequent intervals following deposition provided estimates of spawn mortality on two commonly used plant substrates, Fucus sp. and Zostera sp. These included estimates of the amount of eggs removed from the substrates prior to commencement of hatching, and estimates of the mortality among eggs which remained attached to the substrates. One series of samplings of a deposit of eggs on Fucus was designed to establish the extent of bird predation on the eggs. Results from the spawn survey indicated that at least five separate spawnings occurred during the season. Initial spawning took place on February 5 in the lower estuary (from the south jetty to a point three miles upriver from the mouth). Subsequent spawnings occurred in the third, fifth, sixth, and seventh weeks following this initial deposition, and appeared to take place exclusively in the middle and upper estuary (from three and one half miles to ten miles upriver from the mouth). Among the substrates observed with eggs Fucus appeared to be the most extensively utilized, while localized deposits were noted on Zostera, bare rocks and pilings. Spawning was predominantly located on substrates lying above mean lower low water. Analysis of the samples collected from four populations of eggs deposited on Fucus, and one population deposited on Zostera revealed that egg removal was extreme during the period of incubation. Recorded losses from initially sampled populations of eggs on Fucus ranged from 78% to 1OO% based on sample means. A 9l% loss was recorded for the one Zostera population sampled. A comparison of a protected with an unprotected segment of a sampled population on Fucus indicated that birds contributed at least 80% to the removal of eggs from the unprotected segment. The observed presence of birds on all of the sampling areas when eggs were present suggests that predators accounted for the extensive losses from these areas. Analysis of the ratios of dead eggs to the total number of eggs in samples collected from Fucus substrates provided estimates of natural mortality. Low rates of mortality (about 20%) were recorded for two populations sampled during a period in which the weather was cool and moist, while considerably higher rates (about 50%) were observed in samples from a population exposed to a dry and relatively warm climate. Dessication of eggs was therefore indicated as a significant cause of mortality of eggs remaining attached to substrates exposed to drying conditions in the atmosphere. In addition to these field studies, a study was conducted in the laboratory to define the effects, on the survival of herring eggs to hatching, of combinations of three environmental parameters: temperature, salinity, and exposure to air. Groups of artificially fertilized eggs were incubated in the 18 test environments provided by the different combinations of three temperatures, three salinities, and exposure and non-exposure to air. Survival of eggs to hatching remained high (from 60% to 86% of total eggs in each environment) except for eggs incubated in the highest temperature ( 11 °C.) and subjected to eight hour exposure periods. Average survival in these environments was 5.2% and 24.2% (for two replicates). These observations lend support to the findings from the field sampling studies that survival of herrings eggs can be tenuous when subjected to exposure to air. / Graduation date: 1972

Thesis (M.S.)--Western Washington University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-53). Also issued online.

The swimbladder of Atlantic and Pacific herring has a pneumatic duct arising from the stomach caecum and a direct posterior opening to the exterior. The thesis is advanced that these peculiarities are associated with differences in function which may be related to the life of the herring. Herring obtain swimbladder gas by swallowing air at the surface but not by secretion or bacterial gas generation over one week. Gas release from the swimbladder through the posterior duct occurs in response to pressure reduction, sympathomimetic drugs and atropine and is inhibited by spinal section or brain removal suggesting a gas release mechanism involving the central nervous system. Gas loss through the pneumatic duct is prevented by the swimbladder valve which opens in response to adrenalin. The swimbladder responds to adrenalin by moving its contained gas anteriorly and to pilocarpine by increasing internal gas pressure. The pneumatic duct, normally fluid filled, controls the applied pressure at which gas flow in either direction starts and finishes. This duct mechanically prevents the entry of particulate matter from the stomach and is able to remove air bubbles leaving a mean net force of 3.2 dynes/ml downwards to be compensated for by movements of the fish. As the herring swimbladder functions as a hydrostatic organ the low skeletal body content and high fat content results in a low swimbladder volume, so reducing the change in density with depth, an advantage to a fish undergoing diurnal vertical migrations. It was calculated that herring of Passamaquoddy Bay, N.B. can descend to their median daytime depth of 10 metres in August and 35 metres in February for sinking factors of 1016 and 1018 respectively. Predation may be reduced by the ability of herring to complete air uptake rapidly, to move upward without restriction by expelling any excess gas through the posterior duct and to liberate gas in times of stress in response to adrenaline so increasing body density and permitting rapid downward movement. Thus in many ways the herring because of its anatomical modifications has been able to adapt the physostome condition successfully to its marine environment. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

From the dark muscle of British Columbia herring a highly active enzyme capable of peroxidising unconjugated unsaturated fatty acids was isolated. This ‘lipoxidase’, which was shown to be a nitrogenous complex possessing no heavy metals or sulphydryl group as the active centre, is heat-labile and can act only in presence of activators such as certain iron-containing organic nitrogenous compounds. Two such compounds, namely haemoglobin and cytochrome ‘C’ were isolated. The enzyme exhibits optimum activity at 15°C. and pH 6.9. There is also an optimum concentration of enzyme, substrate, and of the activators for maximum enzyme activity. The presence of the activators appears to change the kinetics of the reactions. The inhibition of the enzymic reaction brought about by cyanide and azide is possibly due to the inactivation of the iron-containing activators rather than of the enzyme itself. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

The conflict over the herring run at Kah Shakes is complicated. In 1991, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) expanded the commercial herring sac roe fishing boundary in the Revillagigedo Channel to include Cat and Dog Islands. Native and non-Native local residents of Ketchikan protested the boundary expansion, as did managers of the neighboring Annette Island Fishery managed by the local reservation. Using cultural anthropological research methods that include ethnographic data, semi-structured, qualitative interviews gathered in southeast Alaska in 2008, and a comprehensive literature review of historic data culled from newspapers and other texts, I examine the many political factors that contribute to this conflict, including the contest between anecdotal and scientific data, the construction of fisheries management boundaries, and issues of collective memory. Using Vayda and Walters' event ecology methodology, bolstered by discourse analysis, I identify three discourses (local ecological knowledge, management and environmental). I use these discourses as comparative units to show that little coincident data can be identified between these discourses. I examine two areas of dissident data, stock definition and measures of abundance, and recommend that local ecological knowledge (LEK) be used to expand the scientific database on which current management techniques depend, to question the accuracy of current ADFG management boundaries and stock identification, and to recalibrate guideline harvest levels by exposing the effects of shifting baselines. I then outline how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) may assist in the validation and integration of LEK into the current fisheries management paradigm to create a more holistic narrative of ecological change.