HerringFest is held every year during the incredible natural spectacle of the herring spawn in the waters of Georgia Strait each Spring. The annual herring spawn in the Strait of Georgia around Hornby and Denman Islands is the last of six major herring spawns on the west coast of Canada - the rest were overfished.
Pacific Herring populations are down 1/3 since 2016.
INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL CONSERVATION GROUPS ARE CALLING FOR AN IMMEDIATE CLOSURE OF THE HERRING FISHERY IN THE STRAIT OF GEORGIA, AFTER RECENTLY RELEASED DATA FROM THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS (DFO) REVEALED THE HERRING POPULATION BIOMASS HAS DWINDLED FROM APPROXIMATELY 129,500 METRIC TONNES IN 2016, TO 85,700 TONNES IN 2019, AND IS PREDICTED TO FALL TO 54,242 TONNES IN 2020. THIS IS A REDUCTION OF ALMOST 60 PERCENT IN FOUR YEARS. HERE ARE THE FACTS:
Pacific herring is the basis for the food web that supports the salmon, killer whales and many other mammals, seabirds and other creatures who, with us, call this place home. 80% of the Chinook salmons' diet is herring, and over 80% of the endangered southern resident killer whales' diet is Chinook.
The herring fishery is worth little money and produces few jobs. 30 years ago the fishermen got as much as $5000 a ton for the fish, now it is as low as $150 and maybe $700 in a good year.
90% of the herring are ground up for fish farm food and pet food. Using wild fish for non-human consumption is illegal under the federal Fisheries Act. And the herring fishery is supporting the salmon farms that are killing our wild salmon.
The last remaining major Pacific Herring spawn from Washington State to Alaska is in the northern Strait of Georgia from Nanaimo to Comox. DFO claims that management is guided by the principles of “Ecosystem Based Management" and "Risk Aversion" and "Precautionary Principle,” yet in the last 20 years, 4 of the 5 major herring fisheries on the BC coast have closed. Wouldn’t it make sense to leave this stock alone to hopefully rebuild all the herring schools on our coast and the marine life that need them for survival?