Hereditary Chiefs,TELAXTEN (Paul Sam Sr.),Tsartlip Nation, XÁLÁȾE (Vern Jacks),Tseycum Nation, LESĆIM (Simon Smith Sr.), Tsartlip Nation and W̱IĆKINEM (Eric Pelkey) from the Tsawout Nation, signed a herring declaration Wednesday.  Alex Harris / Herring Conservation and Restoration Society. 

Canada’s National Observer: Concerned by the disappearance of herring in their territories, hereditary chiefs are calling for closure of the West Coast’s last commercial herring fishery.

Four WSÁNEĆ Chiefs representing three nations gathered in Sidney on Wednesday to sign the Pacific Herring Declaration, which calls for an immediate moratorium on the upcoming Strait of Georgia commercial fishery. 

The winter season’s commercial food and bait fishery, set to open Nov. 24, threatens the survival of the small, silver forage fish which have suffered dramatic declines across the entire B.C. coast, said the leaders from the Tsartlip, Tseycum and Tsawout nations. 

Herring were once abundant in their traditional territory that includes the southern Gulf Islands, parts of southern Vancouver Island and the Saanich Peninsula, said Tsawout Hereditary Chief W̱IĆKINEM (Eric Pelkey). 

It’s a keystone species in the marine food web, critical to both marine life and Indigenous culture and food security, he said. Historically, herring provided winter food for First Nations and at-risk species like seabirds and sea lions — and the Chinook salmon that endangered southern resident killer whales depend on. 

“All the herring that are usually here during the winter seasons now are going to be fished out, and those are practically the only herring left in our territory,” W̱IĆKINEM said. 

The First Nations leaders are making the call now because they want to get the attention of federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier before the spring spawning season and the start of a second commercial fishery for herring roe in the coming year.

Ending the fisheries would allow fish stocks and spawning in the region to rebuild and recover, he added. 

WSÁNEĆ Hereditary chiefs are urging federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier to close the last commercial herring fishery on the West Coast to allow the keystone species to rebuild in their traditional territories. 

The fish used to spawn in large numbers but have mostly disappeared in the southern Salish Sea following colonial industry and development in the Lower Mainland.

Spawning runs, typically in February or March, take place for shorter periods and are largely concentrated in the waters between Nanaimo and Comox. 

Overfishing also caused the collapse of herring populations elsewhere on the coast in the late 1960s. Following a short recovery period, another wave of herring stock declines began in the 1990s.

Pressed by First Nations in other regions, DFO has enacted moratoriums on commercial fisheries in west Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii and greatly reduced or temporarily closed fisheries on the Central Coast and near Prince Rupert. 

“There’s not even discussion of a moratorium with DFO in our territory,” W̱IĆKINEM said. 

DFO did not respond to questions from Canada’s National Observer before publication deadline. 

Fishing one of many pressure points

John Driscoll, fisheries science and policy analyst for David Suzuki Foundation, says he supports the hereditary chiefs’ decision to call for a moratorium, adding it’s indisputable that drastic herring declines have occurred in the southern Georgia Strait. 

DFO hasn’t pinpointed why herring stocks have crashed south of Nanaimo and so lacks critical input needed to make effective management decisions for the population across the entire region, Driscoll said. 

“My concern is that whatever drove the southern decline is still at play, and it’s encroaching further and further north,” said Driscoll, who sits on the department’s harvest advisory committee that includes fisheries scientists, First Nations, industry and conservation groups. 

Other coastal conservation groups, such as the Saanich Inlet Protection Society, also want a moratorium and have been calling on DFO to create a herring recovery plan for the region —  such as the one finalized in April for Haida Gwaii, he added. 

While herring stocks in the rest of the Georgia Strait seem to be stable, the timing and predicability of the spawning season appears to be “eroding,” he said. 

Overfishing caused herring stock collapses in the past, but current harvest levels are unlikely to have prompted more recent declines of herring stocks across the length of B.C.’s coast that are likely due to environmental factors, Driscoll added. 

The multiple effects of climate change — like warmer, acidic, less oxygenated oceans, shifting food sources, and more extreme weather in tidal zones — along with habitat destruction and water quality degradation from human development may be having more of an effect on the fish today, research suggests. 

Herring harvest rates set soon

DFO is expected to finalize its draft herring management plan and set this season’s harvest rates soon. The plan suggests a maximum harvest rate of 14 per cent — for a total allowable catch of 11.6 tonnes. This would be higher than a conservative 10 per cent harvest rate set by DFO over recent years in a bid to conserve herring. 

Remaining commercial fisheries in other areas of the coast have been curtailed recently, except for First Nation harvests for food and ceremonial purposes or to allow a limited commercial spawn-on-kelp fishery. 

Driscoll wouldn’t like to see any increases to herring harvest rates for the coming season. 

DFO needs to shift the focus from setting harvest rates and prioritize investigating and reversing the disappearance of herring from southern waters, he said. 

“It’s clear that there’s more going on than just setting a fishery target in the protection of this stock,” Driscoll said.

“They can’t just assume that, because things are apparently okay north of Nanaimo, that that’s good enough.”  

Herring stocks on the move, says industry

Rob Morley, chair of the Herring Industry Advisory Board (HIAB), said he’s disappointed with the call for a moratorium, stating the herring population in the Salish Sea is healthy and in fairly good shape in other areas. 

“They are depressed in Haida Gwaii and a little bit in the Central Coast, but all the other areas are very strong,” Morley said. 

Herring that used to remain in the southern Strait of Georgia year-round have declined, he agreed. However, their absence is not due to overfishing, but more likely because herring are shifting elsewhere to feed due to water temperature increases. 

“Certainly, we have seen less spawning in some of the areas that the hereditary chiefs are worried about, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the fishery that’s been taking place, or with the status of the stocks themselves.”

Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer

Rochelle Baker, Journalist