When spawning on beaches, capelin have an extremely high post-spawning mortality rate which, for males, is close to 100%.

Barents Sea capelin migrate during winter and early spring to the coast of northern Norway (Finnmark) and the Kola Peninsula (Russia) for spawning.

[4] As an r-selected species, capelin have a high reproductive potential and an intrinsic population growth rate.

[5][8] Although some other fish species leave their eggs in locations that dry out (a few, such as plainfin midshipman, may even remain on land with the eggs during low tide) or on plants above the water (splash tetras), jumping onto land en masse to spawn is unique to the capelin, grunions, and grass puffer.

[11] Studies on two populations of Newfoundland capelin which spawn in two distinct habitats found a lack of evidence of genetic variability between beach and deep-water spawners.

Capelin may select optimal spawning location based on abiotic factors such as temperature range and sediment.

[15][14] The sufficient distribution and abundance of these zooplankton is necessary for capelin to meet energy requirements for progressing through many stages of their life cycle.

[14] Capelin occupy a similar dietary niche as polar cod, which leads to a potential for interspecific competition between the two species.

The northeast Atlantic cod and capelin fisheries, therefore, are managed by a multispecies approach developed by the main resource owners Norway and Russia.

In some years with large quantities of Atlantic herring in the Barents Sea, capelin seem to be heavily affected.

[17] Commercially, capelin is used for fish meal and oil industry products, but is also appreciated as food.