Alosa Alosa Alosa is a genus of fish, the river herrings, in the family Clupeidae. Along with other genera in the subfamily Alosinae, they are generally known as shads. They are distinct from other herrings by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. Several species can be found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Also, several taxa occur in the brackish-water Caspian Sea and the Black Sea basin. Many are found in fresh water during spawning and some are only found in landlocked fresh water. These fishes lived from the Eocene to Quaternary (from 55 million
Herring as food in Europe, and early in the twentieth century their study was fundamental to evolution of fisheries science. These oily fish also have a long history as an important food fish, and are often salted, smoked, or pickled. Herring are very high in the long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. They are a source of vitamin D. Water pollution influences the amount of herring that may be safely consumed. For example, large Baltic herring slightly exceeds recommended limits with respect to PCB and dioxin, although some sources point out that cancer-reducing effect of omega-3 fatty acids is statistically stronger than