Herring Spawn Biomass Timelapse (1960s-2020s)
This timelapse video uses data from Fisheries and Oceans Canada's herring spawn dive surveys and herring spawn flight surveys to estimate the biomass of Pacific herring in coastal British Columbia, Canada between 1960 and 2023. To explore an interactive version of this map please visit:
https://pacificwild.maps.arcgis.com/a...
The Pacific herring fishery started in British Columbia in the 19th century. Herring became the major pelagics fishery in B.C. after the collapse of the Pacific sardine in the late 1940s due to overfishing and unfavourable environmental conditions for sardine recovery. Over their long history of exploitation, B.C.’s five major herring stocks experienced similar depletions in the 1930s and 1960s followed by rapid recoveries in some areas after temporary moratoriums were instated. However, in the last two decades, the abundance of spawn, as well as size of herring returning to spawn have declined to various degrees.
In B.C., history tells us that temporary moratoriums on commercial fishing can work to help herring populations recover if environmental conditions remain favourable. Following the stock collapse in the 1960s, the commercial reduction fishery was closed in 1967. After a few short years, following the advantageous combination of favourable environmental conditions and a low harvest rate, DFO deemed the stock “recovered” (at least, recovered enough by 1951 population baseline standards to support further commercial extraction) by the mid-1970s and the modern roe fishery began in 1972. Herring are a resilient fish and, if given the chance, it is likely that they can recover again today in a robust and meaningful way while climate conditions still allow them to do so.
Temporary fisheries closures are an actionable item DFO can take to mitigate uncertainty as well as known threats to the continued survival of Pacific herring. Taking this action now will help protect the long-term survival not only of the ecosystem but the fishery as well.
Join us in pressuring Fisheries and Oceans Canada to mandate a managed pause on the commercial gillnet and seine roe fisheries in the 2025 fishing season in order to take proactive measures guided by the precautionary principle.
https://pacificwild.org/action/voice-...
#ProtectPacificHerring
