The Herring Islands lie at the entrance to Tutka Bay on the southern shore of Kachemak Bay, about 11 miles (18 km) south of Homer and 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Seldovia, Alaska. William Healey Dall of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey named the islands in 1880.

Alaska’s commercial herring industry began in 1878 when European settlers preserved herring with salt in wooden barrels, as they had in the North Sea. Salted and pickled herring production for food peaked after World War I. In the 1920s, an abundant herring fishery in Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay attracted fleets from the Pacific Northwest and California. Two salteries were built in Seldovia, and surplus World War I sailing ships were converted to floating salteries. Herring gained value for oil, leading to the establishment of reduction plants along the Gulf of Alaska near herring concentrations. The fish were processed to extract oil, and the remains were ground for fishmeal or discarded. In Kachemak Bay, rotting fish destroyed the shallow-water seagrass used by spawning herring. Loss of spawning habitat and overfishing caused the herring fishery to decline, and by the 1930s, it was closed.

Seagrass, or eelgrass, is a crucial substrate for Pacific herring spawning in the nearshore habitats of the Pacific Northwest. Eelgrass thrives on muddy and sandy bottoms in shallow subtidal zones, remaining submerged or partially floating. It serves as a protective nursery ground for fish and shellfish. Eelgrass beds grow rapidly in spring and summer, then decay in fall and winter. Dead eelgrass blades often wash up on beaches, where their decomposition adds essential nutrients to the coastal ecosystem. Herring depend on eelgrass for spawning, laying eggs on its leaves, while juvenile fish find protection from predators within these beds. Read more here and here. Explore more of Herring Islands and Kachemak Bay here: