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Herring:professional buying guide, season, size grades, fresh, smoked or marinated

Herring for the trade: a winter fish of the eastern Channel, Boulogne-sur-Mer, EU size grades, fresh or smoked, raw herring and anisakis, substitutes.

Updated 6 min readLiveCriée editorial team

Contents
  1. Buying sheet
  2. When to buy fresh herring?
  3. Fresh, smoked, marinated: what you are buying
  4. Raw or marinated herring: what precaution?
  5. How to judge the freshness of a herring?
  6. What to replace herring with?
  7. What makes the price of herring move?
  8. Frequently asked questions

Herring (Clupea harengus) is an oily, schooling fish of the North-East Atlantic and the North Sea, caught by pelagic trawl; in France, it is associated with Boulogne-sur-Mer and the eastern English Channel, where it is sold fresh in winter, but it is mostly eaten processed: smoked (saur, kipper), salted or marinated. Like mackerel, it needs a flawless cold chain.

Buying sheet

Herring
Scientific nameClupea harengus
Peak season (fresh)November to March, peak in November; no auction sales from May to October in 2024
Closed seasonNo national closure; fished under quotas
Minimum size20 cm
EU size grades1: 250 g and over (4 fish per kilo or fewer); 2: 125 to 250 g (5 to 8); 3: 85 to 125 g (9 to 11); 4: 50 to 85 g (12 to 20)
Size grades on price lists (examples of trade practice, not a standard)Fish per kilo; "hareng plein" (full herring, with milt or roe)
Main French fish auctionsBoulogne-sur-Mer: about 400 t sold a year at the auction hall (395 t in 2024, 411 t in 2025)
OriginsFAO area 27: eastern English Channel (ICES division 7d), North Sea; also imported
Fishing methodsPelagic trawl
Yield46% as skinless fillets (FAO)
StorageOn ice, 0 to 2 °C, without any break; to be worked very quickly

Size grades: Regulation (EC) No 2406/96, Annex II. Minimum size: Regulation (EU) 2019/1241. Yield: FAO, Technical Paper No 309 (1989). Sales: FranceAgriMer (monthly data 2024, all auctions) and Port Boulogne Calais (2024 and 2025). National rhythm of auction sales; it varies from one port to another.

  • 197 tof herring sold at auction in November 2024, half of the year
  • 400 tor so sold every year at the Boulogne-sur-Mer fish auction
  • €0.6 to 0.7/kgaverage price at Boulogne in 2024 and 2025

Source: FranceAgriMer, monthly sales at fish auctions 2024; Port Boulogne Calais, press kit of 21 January 2026.

When to buy fresh herring?

In winter. In 2024, French fish auctions sold about 390 tonnes of herring, almost all from November to March, half of it in November; from May to October, no sales at all. It is an oily, inexpensive fish: €0.6 to 0.7/kg on average at Boulogne-sur-Mer in 2024 and 2025. The rest of the year, herring is mostly found processed or imported.

The vocabulary of the Boulogne fishery keeps the memory of this season: the archives of the herring campaigns distinguish "plein" (full) herring from the November catches and "guai" (spent) herring from the February catches. Boulogne-sur-Mer also remains the main French centre for fish curing: the Boulonnais urban community (Agglomération du Boulonnais) claims 65% of French seafood curing.

Fresh, smoked, marinated: what you are buying

ProductWhat it isUse
Fresh herringwhole, gutted or as filletsgrilled, pan-fried, home-marinated
Hareng saursalted then cold-smokedwith potatoes in oil (pommes à l'huile), salads
Kippersplit open butterfly-style, salted and smokedbreakfast, grilled
Marinated herring, rollmopsraw fillets in a vinegar marinadestarter, aperitif

Common trade names noted by the editorial team.

Raw or marinated herring: what precaution?

Herring is one of the species most exposed to anisakis larvae. The EU regulation requires a fish intended to be eaten raw, marinated or insufficiently salted to be frozen for at least 24 hours at -20 °C at the core, or 15 hours at -35 °C, except for the exceptions set by the text. A home-made marinade from fresh herring therefore requires prior freezing. Like mackerel, herring is also one of the species rich in histidine, for which the regulation sets histamine limits: the cold chain must be continuous.

How to judge the freshness of a herring?

Silvery, shiny skin, blue-green back; bulging, clear eye; bright red gills; scales that come off easily, which is normal; firm body. A burst or soft belly, a rancid or strong smell: the fish should be refused. Oily and fragile, fresh herring is worked on the day of delivery.

What to replace herring with?

UseSubstituteNote
Marinated, escabecheMackerel, sardinesame sanitary precautions
GrilledSardine, mackerelsardine mostly in summer
Potato salad with oil (pommes à l'huile)Hareng saur, smoked mackerelprocessed products, steady all year round

What makes the price of herring move?

Average first-sale price at auction, France, 2024Herring
Yearly averageabout €0.69/kg
Cheapest monthMarch: about €0.43/kg
Most expensive monthApril: about €0.83/kg, on only 6 t; then January and November, about €0.78 to 0.79/kg
Spread between auctionsnot applicable: Boulogne-sur-Mer accounts for 95% of sales

Year 2024, all French fish auctions: average first-sale price at the auction hall (FranceAgriMer, sales declared at fish auctions, workbook published on 2 July 2026). Prices given to the cent, given their level. The auction price is not the price paid to the fish merchant: processing, transport and margin are added to it.

Herring does not follow the landings rule. November 2024, the busiest month (197 t, half of the year), sold among the most expensive (about €0.78/kg); March, with 38 t, at the lowest (about €0.43/kg), and December at around €0.50/kg. November is the season of full herring (see above), but no public source quantifies the effect of milt and roe on the price. 2025 confirms the same order, November above March.

  • The season: fresh herring is only at auction a few months a year, mostly in November.
  • Herring quotas, set every year and shared with the United Kingdom and Norway.
  • The size: large full herring cost more than small ones.
  • Processing: smoked, kipper or marinated, the price includes salting, smoking and labour.
  • The weather in the eastern English Channel, which governs the trips of the pelagic trawlers.

Frequently asked questions

When is fresh herring in season?

Winter: in 2024, French fish auctions sold it from November to March, with a clear peak in November, and none from May to October. Boulogne-sur-Mer sells about 400 tonnes a year.

Can you marinate fresh herring yourself?

Yes, provided you first freeze it for at least 24 hours at -20 °C at the core, as EU regulations require for fish eaten raw or marinated, because of the anisakis risk.

What is the difference between hareng saur and kipper?

Hareng saur is salted then smoked, most often whole or as fillets; a kipper is split open butterfly-style along the back before being salted and smoked.

What is the fillet yield of herring?

About 46% of the whole weight as skinless fillets, according to the FAO. The yield varies with the season: a full herring, before spawning, yields differently from a herring that has just spawned.

What is the auction price of herring in France?

In 2024, about €0.69/kg on average at first sale (FranceAgriMer), almost all at Boulogne-sur-Mer: about €0.78/kg in November, at the peak of the season, and €0.43/kg in March. The price paid to the fish merchant adds processing, transport and margin, which weigh heavily on a fish at less than one euro a kilo.

Sources

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