Herring Fishery

[ship happens]

The commercial sector made almost zero money. Got to catch half the fish with high fuel prices and everything else. The biomass is like @wildmanyeah said, historically high and still growing. The data has been posted on here many times.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Looks like a decline in West Coast Herring this year. closer to 2020 West of Vancouver Island, stocks have not supported a commercial harvest since 2005.

West coast Herring

FN0322-COMMERCIAL - Herring - Roe: West Coast Vancouver Island - Herring Stock Assessment Program - Final Bulletin - March 30, 2023

2023 Total Herring WCVI: 17,000 tons estimated

2022 Total Herring WCVI: 28,500 tons estimated(Area 23-25)

2021 Total Herring WCVI: 23,425 tons(Area 23-25)

2020: TOTAL WCVI: 15,280 tonnes (peak estimate)

2019 Total WCVI: 21,600 tonnes

2018 TOTAL WCVI: 27,500 tons

 

[terrin]

Here is a chart from just south of us. Its current to 2022 and I like how they lay out all the data.https://pspwa.app.box.com/s/jogxmuw51h2wghaow1kywpguek1u4epe

 

[wildmanyeah]

Here is a chart from just south of us. Its current to 2022 and I like how they lay out all the data.https://pspwa.app.box.com/s/jogxmuw51h2wghaow1kywpguek1u4epe

Sad to see cherry point down to 100 tonnes

 

[terrin]

Sad to see cherry point down to 100 tonnes

Yea, apparently used to be their biggest stock.

• The Cherry Point herring stock, once the largest stock in Puget Sound, is estimated to be less than 1% of its historic high and shows no sign of recovery. The Cherry Point spawning biomass estimate in 2022 was the lowest on record.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Anchovies have displaced herring down south

 

[terrin]

Anchovies have displaced herring down south

A good article on how inter-connected everything is. https://www.eopugetsound.org/magazine/ssec2018/marine-survival-3

 

[ship happens]

When was it that the puget sound herring got completely destroyed because of the spill?

 

[agentaqua]

Photo Friday | Gone (Herring) Fishing - NFB Blog

Herring stocks on the B.C. coast are making a comeback after a catastrophic collapse in the 1980s, but the harvest remains controversial. B.C. First Nations, who have long been advocating for sustainable...

blog.nfb.ca

 

[terrin]

When was it that the puget sound herring got completely destroyed because of the spill?

Puget Sound is a pretty big area. What spill are you referring too I can’t find any herring getting destroyed by the spill?

 

[ship happens]

Puget Sound is a pretty big area. What spill are you referring too I can’t find any herring getting destroyed by the spill?

I'll have to ask the boss. I can't remember the story

 

[agentaqua]

I don't know Puget Sound - but from the available literature it appears that there are ongoing chronic releases rather than any 1 reported large spill:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969714012212

https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/01028/wdfw01028.pdf

https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2570&context=ssec

as far as single events of large spills - in Valdez/Prince William Sound after the ‘Exxon Valdez’ oil spill - the continual leakage of PAHs from the crude oil from the sediments depressed the immune system of the herring inducing a breakout of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) which then caused the 1992–1993 collapse of the Prince William Sound (PWS) herring fishery:

https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/4187/9307.pdf?sequence=1

https://www.int-res.com/articles/dao_oa/d083p223.pdf

 

[terrin]

Another article exploring what little is known about the life adventure of Herring and other forage fish in our area.https://www.eopugetsound.org/node/163813

 

[terrin]

I don't know Puget Sound - but from the available literature it appears that there are ongoing chronic releases rather than any 1 reported large spill:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969714012212

https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/01028/wdfw01028.pdf

https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2570&context=ssec

as far as single events of large spills - in Valdez/Prince William Sound after the ‘Exxon Valdez’ oil spill - the continual leakage of PAHs from the crude oil from the sediments depressed the immune system of the herring inducing a breakout of viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV) which then caused the 1992–1993 collapse of the Prince William Sound (PWS) herring fishery:

https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/4187/9307.pdf?sequence=1

https://www.int-res.com/articles/dao_oa/d083p223.pdf

The links you cited only talk about the potential consequences of a spill in Puget Sound as far as i can tell.

 

[ship happens]

Yeah I realized I was getting the Puget sound story confused with somthing else. Good memory refresher. The pugent sound herring was wiped out by the seiners years ago and since then the industrial industry in puget sound pretty much ruined the water column. So its been a long recovery. The industry in pugent sound has been unbelievably pollutant over the last 100 years between the huge shipyards, metal manufacturing, and mills.

Exposure of Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasi) to Persistent Organic Pollutants in Puget Sound and the Georgia Basin

wdfw.wa.gov

Vital Signs | Contaminants in Pacific herring

vitalsigns.pugetsoundinfo.wa.gov

 

[terrin]

Fortunately only two of five stocks are exceeding safe contaminant levels and all five are trending in the right direction. It's good to see even the two most industrialised Basins are trending to contaminant decreasing. Both Cherry Point and Semiahmoo look to be below fish health thresholds as far as Contaminants go.

 

[ship happens]

Fortunately only two of five stocks are exceeding safe contaminant levels and all five are trending in the right direction. It's good to see even the two most industrialised Basins are trending to contaminant decreasing. Both Cherry Point and Semiahmoo look to be below fish health thresholds as far as Contaminants go.

Yeah I think with all the improvements over the years on cleanliness on industrial activities the contaminants are improving. Puget sound doesn't have alot of drainage. With those huge industries there and the old ways of doing things with big industry inside those inlets, it really paints a picture.

The Naval shipyard built ...

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard was established in 1891. In World War I, it built seven submarines, 25 sub chasers, seven oceangoing tugs, two minesweepers and two ammunition ships, along with 1,700 small boats

 

[terrin]

Herring survey 2023 insights: A dive into Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound

Learn about the spring herring spawn survey, including sightings of northern anchovies. Explore the implications for marine conservation and research opportunities.

www.nsnews.com

 

[wildmanyeah]

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) 2023/2024 Integrated Fisheries Management Plan draft forecasted median spawning biomass of 80,288 tons in 2023 and 80,882 tons in 2024. This year’s harvest target may reach a maximum of 10 per cent of this said biomass, allowing fishermen to catch roughly 8,000 tons of herring. The Food and Bait, and Special Use fisheries, will be authorized to catch about 3,000 tons, while the remaining 5,000 tons will go to roe fisheries in early spring of next year.

 

[terrin]

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) 2023/2024 Integrated Fisheries Management Plan draft forecasted median spawning biomass of 80,288 tons in 2023 and 80,882 tons in 2024. This year’s harvest target may reach a maximum of 10 per cent of this said biomass, allowing fishermen to catch roughly 8,000 tons of herring. The Food and Bait, and Special Use fisheries, will be authorized to catch about 3,000 tons, while the remaining 5,000 tons will go to roe fisheries in early spring of next year.

Do we have updated spawning biomass numbers yet for 2024? Thanks