As any musical theater fan knows, folks have been trying to sell Americans on herring for a long, long time (Carousel's Mr. Snow brags he'll take his catch and "put 'em in cans an' call 'em sardines." to trick discriminating diners). But now maybe those tiny fish so rich in omega-3 fatty acids are finally about to have their moment. The Times sure thinks so, and they've got some numbers to back them up. more ›

Fans of downing delicious whole fish, we have good news for you! The annual herring-palooza that is the new catch Holland herring season has begun, and the first buttery boatload is ready for you. Go quick, there aren't that many more fish in the sea! more ›

For the second straight year, an alewife herring was found in the historically polluted Bronx River, signaling that restoration efforts are working. Rep. Jose Serrano told the Daily News, "We have turned a dead river that was unusable for our community into a living river with wildlife." Alewives were reintroduced to the river in 2007, and pass through on their way to spawn from Nova Scotia. Natural Resources Group director Marit Larson said the next step is getting them over the 182nd Street damn to spawn. He said, "NRG and the Bronx River Alliance are continuing...to plan the construction of fish ladders at all three dams in the Bronx. This will open the upper reaches of the river as spawning grounds for even more returning alewife." At press time, it was unclear how many eyes the fish have. more ›

Not that we needed any convincing about Belgian artist James Ensor (1860-1949), but after New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl declared that the "astonishing" Ensor retrospective at MoMA "will affect many viewers like the detonation of a bomb whose fuse has been fizzing inconspicuously for a century," we quit procrastinating and finally humped it to midtown on Saturday. It was definitely worth the trip, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the exhibit wasn't disastrously mobbed in the way that blockbuster museum retrospectives tend to get. more ›

The bottlenose dolphins that have surrounded New York City in the past week are definitely a welcomed visitor. Not just because they are adorable and probably don't want to kill us (unlike some aquatic guests), but it means that our water could be cleaner than we thought (not to mention stocked with plenty of herring). Newsday reports that "fishermen and scientists said it has been 30 or more years since they'd seen bottlenose dolphins in the Sound in the summertime, and experts agree that the marine mammals came here following food. Experts say the real test will be next year if the dolphins return. If they do, there is a chance the Sound waters are clean enough to sustain a population of the animals." Dolphins used to be a common sight in the Sound, until the post-WWII development boom that helped pollute our waters, but maybe this is the first step in getting them back. Now, can we add some puppies to this story? more ›

Herring are about to stage their own version of Spring Awakening. Schools of tiny fish (seen here) congregate this time every year in the slowly warming Nordic and Dutch waters, chill, and essentially OD on plankton. According to Edible Manhattan, it’s at this point herring undergo a major change akin to the freshman fifteen, with “their little oily bodies becoming up to 16 percent fat.” It’s also at this moment the fishing industries of several dozen countries go into maximum overdrive and start netting the hell out of the fish. In Holland, Flag Day is called Vlaggetjesdag; the holiday is celebrated by a lot of raw herring eating in the streets. more ›