Herring roe fishery
- Thread starter fishingbc
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G
gone fishin
Guest
"If the quality is not good enough we pull the nets and leave the fish"
If DFO are working on a 20% harvest rate and there are not enough "quality" Herring of a suitable age to satisfy the overseas Roe market how does Harvesting as much of the suitable "quality" Herring as possible fit into the science?
The older Herring are the best spawners, right?
The overall abundance is declining, right? (some would say at an alarming rate)
It's too complicated, you can't just simplify it into layman terms like that.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Yes
Subject:
FN0201-COMMERCIAL - Herring - Roe: Seine - Strait of Georgia - Fishery Opening March 6, 2020
Strait of Georgia - Roe Seine Fishery Opening March 6, 2020
Effective 06:30 hours, March 6, 2020 and until further notice the roe herring
seine fishery is open to Areas 14-1 to 14-13, and 14-15 in the Straight of
Georgia, excluding Comox Harbour. This opening is pursuant to Variation Order,
No. 2020-HS-GULF-01.
This opening was recommended by the seine pool captains on two test sets taken
in upper Baynes Sound last night:
TEST: Mar 5 pm on 200 tons Union Point. 10.5%; 18.9cm; 59m:46f; 46-1-0-0-0;
22.2gm:95.3gm;
TEST: Mar 5 pm on 200 tons Gartley Point. 12.7%; 19.4cm; 54m:59f; 53-3-3-0-0;
23.8gm:88.8gm;
with an estimated 5,000+ tons in the immediate area. DFO on-grounds managers
have accepted this recommendation. Total seine TAC in the Strait of Georgia is
2,024.75 tons.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Jim Meldrum (250) 286-5823 or james.meldrum@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Fisheries & Oceans Operations Center - FN0201
Sent March 6, 2020 at 0520
chevyshaulass
Well-Known Member
Yesterday morning our boat (gillnet) officially finished up our 2020 herring season and man what a fishery it was! We worked hard and shook about 150 tons in 2.5 days of perfect fishing. The weather was perfect, the fish cooperated, no one got hurt other than some sore backs and hands, and there has been miles upon miles of unfished, unmolested spawns from oyster river all the way down to Parksville with still much more still to come! The fish this year were large and very high quality, despite what you may have heard from the other side about nothing but juveniles blah blah blah... and major spawns occurred in several areas which spread out the fleet so no single area got pounded too hard. For both the fish and the fishermen this was one of the best fisheries ive seen in the last 15 years. The only ones it didn't work out for are protesters who were once again proven wrong.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
Thats awesome how did the price hold up this year!
littlechucky
Crew Member
chevyshaulass
Well-Known Member
well considering the quota they allotted was based on their original prediction of 54,000 tons, and as of right now it looks like somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-75000 tons ended up showing up, it sure looks good to me. even if all the quota does get caught which it may not simply due to lack of manpower in the gillnet fleet, that would mean a harvest rate of 12-14% which falls well below the allowable 20% that DFO implements when first announcing the fishery, so like I said, good year for both the fish and the fishermen.
As for prices, that takes months to be fully determined, buyers give out down payments now and then when the product is fully processed they give out price adjustments based on the quality of the fish and market conditions. Every boat is different but personally i'll get a couple nice cheques this week sometime based on the X amount of dollars per ton I agreed to work on the boat for that i am guaranteed and then the price adjustments cheques usually show up around the end of summer. As far as ive heard this whole virus craziness shouldn't affect us too much, however im hearing rumors of the prawn fishery possibly going to take a major hit this upcoming season, but just rumors nothing concrete.
Cookie's Cutter
Well-Known Member
Awesome news! now the fish farms will have enough feed to poison our oceans for another year !
chevyshaulass
Well-Known Member
Riiiiight. Another useless point, do you honestly think that if they couldn't get pellets made from our herring leftovers that they wouldn't just source it from somewhere else?the belief that our herring fishery keeps the fish farms afloat and vice-versa is laughable at best. bet you don't mind using it for prawn bait though...
Cookie's Cutter
Well-Known Member
oh the old, if we don’t kill them someone else will argument. From a Biomass of 216k a few years ago, 86k last year to 70k this year. How much will there be next year? and the following year?
I am not saying close the fishery completely, but maybe they should dial it back a little bit.
p.s. prawn bait is typically tuna.
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
I don’t think the sog biomass has ever been 216 I think it topped out around 160k.
In the 1970 the sog biomass was under 20k what was the Chinook 1970s coho biomass in the 1970s? Compared today?
Always easy to blame human harvest but the top predictors out there right now are seals and sea lions.
Time to work together and start pushing for them to be harvests. Stop pointing fingers
In the 1970 the sog biomass was under 20k what was the Chinook 1970s coho biomass in the 1970s? Compared today?
Always easy to blame human harvest but the top predictors out there right now are seals and sea lions.
Time to work together and start pushing for them to be harvests. Stop pointing fingers
Cookie's Cutter
Well-Known Member
You are right about one thing as you say “It is easy to blame human harvest”.
I am not trying to take your job away. I know the fishery is lucrative for a small number of commercial fisherman. I just think it is better to error more on the side of conservation rather than over harvest. Especially when these fish are not even consumed by the people of British Columbia.
You tell me to stop pointing fingers? I don’t want to see this go the way of the the commercial cod fishery on the east coast. I don’t want to see the government have to retrain you as a Care Aid. I hear that is a pretty ****** job right now.
Last edited:
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
You can point fingers all you want but im not prepared to throw people like this under the bus...
"
James Alexander Lawson is with Vern Humchitt and Jarred Sparrow in Comox, British Columbia.
March 10 at 6:14 PM
from my grandfather and father, carrying on the Heiltsuk tradition of herring harvest. After the long winter months seeing this little silver fish is a welcome sight, marking the new fishing year and kicking our tight knit fishing community into action again. It’s an important part of surviving in this occupation. Diversity is key in modern fisheries, and my subpar salmon year was mitigated by herring. It’s a piece of the puzzle that keeps us viable, keeps in the business of supplying high quality seafood to your table and foreign markets. Herring has been under a microscope lately with @pacificwild @conservancyhornbyisland @seashepherd asserting that the fishery is being mismanaged and driving stocks into the ground. It’s trendy to protest for things that seem green these days, equally trendy to support First Nations in an era of reconciliation. But their stories aren’t painting a proper picture: the herring stocks are healthy, and many First Nations rely on this fishery. 40% of the licenses are First Nations held and we come from near and far to participate as part of our small businesses. The very management systems the protest groups denounce has seen increases in biomass 10 out of the last 13 years. In a feel good story fish returned to spawn in Tla’amin territory for the first time in decades in 2020, and showed up in False Creek. If those aren’t markers of rebounding health in herring I don’t know what are. This fishery also supports the health of coastal communities, adding 50 million to the local economies. The herring fishery isn’t a group of faceless villains out to plunder the seas. We care about our stocks, and the herring fishery donates around 150 thousand a year to study these little fish. We have an interest in keeping them healthy so we can bring the wealth home. We are fish harvesters, processors, science advisors, truckers, and so many other things. And we likely care more than you about their health. #proudtofishbc #herringstories #biglittlefish #bcyoungfishermen @ Comox, British Columbia"
"
Josh Young
March 10 at 4:37 PM
As I finish my thirtieth year Herring fishing, I can’t help but reflect on all the good times we’ve had with local boys from Pender. Commercial fisherman from the Harbour have endured many challenging times because of support from within and our involvement in various fisheries. Take this fishery away and we are less viable in the future. I’m all for a closure if the science warrants it but not for political or emotional reasons. It’s hard to believe public sentiment of this fishery has gone from sustainable and economically viable to a so called environmental atrocity in just a few years. Herring fishing has brought millions of dollars of economic benefit to my home town. This year has brought substantial herring returns and lengthy spawn deposition, yet the environmental movement has us in their sights and protesting has become much more trendy and profitable than resource extraction. Our fishery is in peril not for scientific reasons or the status of herring stocks but because of anti fishing propaganda that use drones and expensive photography equipment to demonize our livelihood. Local media has yet to report any good press regarding the current stocks of herring in the Strait of Georgia but was right there on Sunday as a handful of protestors staged their opposition to the way we make a living. Global news declined when industry asked to counter the claims made by Pacific Wild.
Pacific Wild won’t stop as long as huge donations keep rolling in and urban dwellers want to stop a way of life they know nothing about. It becomes emotionally draining to endure paid protesters following you as you fish herring only to get that perfect shot that makes us look like ruthless killers of nature. Their simplified attack: the orcas are starving from lack of spring salmon in the strait because we’ve decimated the population is simply false. A simplistic theory that appeals to the politically correct voters in cities. A hypocritical population that develops the banks of the Fraser to Hope and likes to point solely at commercial fisherman for the Fraser salmon crisis. The 75000 ton biomass assessed this year is done by three boats from Ladysmith to the Comox ferry. Lack of research funding means all the other herring populations in the gulf are not quantified. Herring have spawned already in Pender and all throughout the east side of the gulf. This 75000 ton biomass is grossly understated while environmental groups will have you believe the ocean is void of life. Go out on the water during herring season and look at a video sounder rather than Facebook and Instagram for unchecked facts.
The quota our own operation caught this year will bring an gross economic benefit to B.C. of close to a half million dollars. This includes trucking, processing, freezing and shipping our kazunoko to foreign markets. This industry needs your support to overcome this environmental persecution. If you rely on resource extraction for your livelihood: you could be Ian Macallaster’s next victim.
"
"
James Alexander Lawson is with Vern Humchitt and Jarred Sparrow in Comox, British Columbia.
March 10 at 6:14 PM
from my grandfather and father, carrying on the Heiltsuk tradition of herring harvest. After the long winter months seeing this little silver fish is a welcome sight, marking the new fishing year and kicking our tight knit fishing community into action again. It’s an important part of surviving in this occupation. Diversity is key in modern fisheries, and my subpar salmon year was mitigated by herring. It’s a piece of the puzzle that keeps us viable, keeps in the business of supplying high quality seafood to your table and foreign markets. Herring has been under a microscope lately with @pacificwild @conservancyhornbyisland @seashepherd asserting that the fishery is being mismanaged and driving stocks into the ground. It’s trendy to protest for things that seem green these days, equally trendy to support First Nations in an era of reconciliation. But their stories aren’t painting a proper picture: the herring stocks are healthy, and many First Nations rely on this fishery. 40% of the licenses are First Nations held and we come from near and far to participate as part of our small businesses. The very management systems the protest groups denounce has seen increases in biomass 10 out of the last 13 years. In a feel good story fish returned to spawn in Tla’amin territory for the first time in decades in 2020, and showed up in False Creek. If those aren’t markers of rebounding health in herring I don’t know what are. This fishery also supports the health of coastal communities, adding 50 million to the local economies. The herring fishery isn’t a group of faceless villains out to plunder the seas. We care about our stocks, and the herring fishery donates around 150 thousand a year to study these little fish. We have an interest in keeping them healthy so we can bring the wealth home. We are fish harvesters, processors, science advisors, truckers, and so many other things. And we likely care more than you about their health. #proudtofishbc #herringstories #biglittlefish #bcyoungfishermen @ Comox, British Columbia"
"
Josh Young
March 10 at 4:37 PM
As I finish my thirtieth year Herring fishing, I can’t help but reflect on all the good times we’ve had with local boys from Pender. Commercial fisherman from the Harbour have endured many challenging times because of support from within and our involvement in various fisheries. Take this fishery away and we are less viable in the future. I’m all for a closure if the science warrants it but not for political or emotional reasons. It’s hard to believe public sentiment of this fishery has gone from sustainable and economically viable to a so called environmental atrocity in just a few years. Herring fishing has brought millions of dollars of economic benefit to my home town. This year has brought substantial herring returns and lengthy spawn deposition, yet the environmental movement has us in their sights and protesting has become much more trendy and profitable than resource extraction. Our fishery is in peril not for scientific reasons or the status of herring stocks but because of anti fishing propaganda that use drones and expensive photography equipment to demonize our livelihood. Local media has yet to report any good press regarding the current stocks of herring in the Strait of Georgia but was right there on Sunday as a handful of protestors staged their opposition to the way we make a living. Global news declined when industry asked to counter the claims made by Pacific Wild.
Pacific Wild won’t stop as long as huge donations keep rolling in and urban dwellers want to stop a way of life they know nothing about. It becomes emotionally draining to endure paid protesters following you as you fish herring only to get that perfect shot that makes us look like ruthless killers of nature. Their simplified attack: the orcas are starving from lack of spring salmon in the strait because we’ve decimated the population is simply false. A simplistic theory that appeals to the politically correct voters in cities. A hypocritical population that develops the banks of the Fraser to Hope and likes to point solely at commercial fisherman for the Fraser salmon crisis. The 75000 ton biomass assessed this year is done by three boats from Ladysmith to the Comox ferry. Lack of research funding means all the other herring populations in the gulf are not quantified. Herring have spawned already in Pender and all throughout the east side of the gulf. This 75000 ton biomass is grossly understated while environmental groups will have you believe the ocean is void of life. Go out on the water during herring season and look at a video sounder rather than Facebook and Instagram for unchecked facts.
The quota our own operation caught this year will bring an gross economic benefit to B.C. of close to a half million dollars. This includes trucking, processing, freezing and shipping our kazunoko to foreign markets. This industry needs your support to overcome this environmental persecution. If you rely on resource extraction for your livelihood: you could be Ian Macallaster’s next victim.
"
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