Herring roe fishery

[Charter Tofino]

The best pro Herring fishery argument I’ve seen today is that if the biomass grows it will negatively affect Chinook numbers due to competition with juveniles. This quoted from Rob Morley of “Herring Conservation and Research Society” aka Canifisco.

I’d love to see that study.

 

[fogged in]

The best pro Herring fishery argument I’ve seen today is that if the biomass grows it will negatively affect Chinook numbers due to competition with juveniles. This quoted from Rob Morley of the “Herring Conservation and Research Society” aka Canifisco.

if you look at the bio mass quoted back in "1955/1956 the catch of herring was 250,960 ton"
and the health of the Chinook salmon in those days, it will shoot the hell out of that argument!
Have you noticed the much smaller population of sea birds in the Oak Bay area. The gulls have been reduced to begging from the fishermen fishing halibut. Can't drop anchor without 2 or more sitting by you hoping for a handout.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Andrew trites makes one of the best arguments I’ve seen for not having herring harvest.

 

[gone fishin]

I have read all the posts on this thread seeing information from knowledgeable to ridiculous and a lot in between.
Will not get involved in the debate.
I have a question.
If the DFO projected 2020 SOG herring biomass is around 54,000 tones will there be a commercial opening this year, if so, what would you expect the commercial quota to be and when can we expect an official announcement?

 

[tincan]

Good discussion on the commercial herring fishery with some other stuff mixed in

The only thing I'll add is that the 1 remaining commercial fishery for herring (SOG) is justified on biomass and from what I can glean there is decent biomass in the SOG. The issue I have with this (as do many on this forum and even some commercial fishermen I've spoken with) is that local herring populations are not adequately considered in the decision to open/close commercial herring fisheries. Anyone who is old enough to remember the once common herring balls all throughout the SOG can see that these 'local' populations have all but disappeared... while the only significant population remaining are those spawners near Hornby/Denman/etc that do their thing a couple times a year.

As with salmon survival, there are surely many factors that have led to and will limit herring populations, including habitat loss (notice kelp beds and eelgrass beds have already disappeared) but harvesting the SOG herring to the allowable limit each year is probably not the best course of action if we want to re-establish local populations elsewhere in the SOG. Theoretically, if more herring were allowed to spawn there would find new spawning habitat and hopefully that would mean re-establishing areas in the SOG that used to be herring spawning hotspots.

 

[wildmanyeah]

hopefully that would mean re-establishing areas in the SOG that used to be herring spawning hotspots.

I think they did a study on this in Japan and Alaska. That once a herring stock is lost rebuilding my never happen or is greatly reduced if other bait fish move into the area.

Is their a shortage of bait fish in the SOG. Is that what the salish sea project has determined??

 

[searun]

I am not aware of a bait fish shortage. The abundance in years leading up to this season was strong, but the data was showing a declining trend developing, and that spells trouble coming. DFO policy is slow up, fast down when it comes to harvest against abundance indicies.

 

[wildmanyeah]

I get it seals are starving, harbor porpoise are starving and hump backs barely even come here anymore. We have a bait crisis shut down commercial fishing.

Turn it into an mpa and Insure we protect these areas for generations.

I can see the narrative already

 

[fogged in]

I get it seals are starving, harbor porpoise are starving and hump backs barely even come here anymore. We have a bait crisis shut down commercial fishing.
Turn it into an mpa and Insure we protect these areas for generations.
I can see the narrative already

Gone Fishin hit the nail on the head when he said
"I have read all the posts on this thread seeing information from knowledgeable to ridiculous and a lot in between."
Lets keep this "Herring Roe Fishery" on topic and avoid the ridiculous!!!

 

[wildmanyeah]

Gone Fishin hit the nail on the head when he said
"I have read all the posts on this thread seeing information from knowledgeable to ridiculous and a lot in between."
Lets keep this "Herring Roe Fishery" on topic and avoid the ridiculous!!!

I’m glad you think it’s ridiculous narrative I hope you call them all out as they start to hit the media in February

After all if the commercial quota is low it’s because there is a crisis.

 

[wildmanyeah]

British Columbia group: Herring stock in ‘healthy state’ despite NGO claims
By Undercurrent News Oct. 31, 2019 14:45 GMT

Canada's Herring Conservation and Research Society (HCRS) is disputing recent claims made by environmental non-governmental organizations that the herring fishery in British Columbia's Strait of Georgia is in steep decline and needs to be closed immediately.

Three groups, Pacific Wild, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Conservancy Hornby Island, recently issued a press release claiming that the fishery's biomass fell from 129,500 metric tons in 2016 to 85,700t in 2019 and is poised to fall to 54,242t in 2020.

The HCRS, citing a stock assessment from Canada's Department of Oceans (DFO), said that although herring stocks have declined, the numbers quoted by the groups are incorrect.

"The actual total spawning biomass assessed by DFO was 82,700t in 2016 (not the 129,500 claimed in the release) and the estimated spawning biomass in 2019 was 64,300t (not the 85,700 claimed in the release). This is an approximate 22% decline over the last 3 years (not the 60% claimed)," the HCRS said. "This follows six years of consistent increases in the spawning biomass from 2010 to 2016 when numbers doubled from 41,600t to the 82,700t."

The HCRS said that DFO's stock assessment for the fishery admits that it "has, to date, insufficient information to determine whether the decline from 2016 to 2019 represents a true decline in estimated spawning biomass”.

The group added that a 10,850t harvest in the strait is "is appropriate, conservative and sustainable according to DFO peer-reviewed science".

 

[wildmanyeah]

VANCOUVER, Oct. 16, 2019 /CNW/ - The Herring Conservation and Research Society issued this statement in response to new science from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) showing a decline of one-third in the Strait of Georgia herring biomass.

"HCRS accepts the new stock assessment and its implications for much lower herring harvests in 2020 but believes the stock assessment and its underlying model is very conservative and reflects a minimum estimate of biomass not its likely actual level. We believe therefore that the model and its reference points should be reviewed over the next year to confirm whether its assumptions are correct. Nonetheless, peer reviewed science demonstrates that the historic 20% harvest rate even with the conservative assessments meets accepted conservation standards.

"The reduction in the Gulf of Georgia herring quota to no more than 10,800 tonnes for both the food and bait fishery and the roe fishery will be devastating to fish harvesters and coastal communities. Roe herring in 2017 and 2018 generated about $40-$50 million in export value and keeps fishermen and plants busy for several months when few other fisheries are open. With at least 40% of herring licences held by Indigenous harvesters, fishing families in communities like Alert Bay on Vancouver Island will be especially hard hit as they struggle to make a living.

"HCRS believes that quotas in recent years were set at conservative levels that are well below the harvest rates recommended by eminent international scientists on the Pew Charitable Trust Lenfest Task Force on Forage Fish allowing sufficient fish for ecosystem needs. There is no evidence of any correlation between herring stocks and predator status, including Chinook salmon. Herring stocks, like most forage fish, are highly dynamic and significant increases or decreases are not unusual based mainly on changes in natural mortality factors. At harvest rates well below the Pew recommendations, it is not commercial fisheries that drive stock performance.

"Fisheries management is complex but the wild seafood industry believes that good stock assessment is the foundation of responsible management and sustainable fisheries. HCRS calls on the next government to make sure there is sufficient funding for DFO science and stock assessment, including ecosystem relationships. Herring science needs a long-term commitment."

SOURCE Herring Conservation and Research Society

For further information: Rob Morley, HCRS, 604.612.4758, rmorleyconsulting@gmail.com

 

[searun]

VANCOUVER, Oct. 16, 2019 /CNW/ - The Herring Conservation and Research Society issued this statement in response to new science from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) showing a decline of one-third in the Strait of Georgia herring biomass.

"HCRS accepts the new stock assessment and its implications for much lower herring harvests in 2020 but believes the stock assessment and its underlying model is very conservative and reflects a minimum estimate of biomass not its likely actual level. We believe therefore that the model and its reference points should be reviewed over the next year to confirm whether its assumptions are correct. Nonetheless, peer reviewed science demonstrates that the historic 20% harvest rate even with the conservative assessments meets accepted conservation standards.

"The reduction in the Gulf of Georgia herring quota to no more than 10,800 tonnes for both the food and bait fishery and the roe fishery will be devastating to fish harvesters and coastal communities. Roe herring in 2017 and 2018 generated about $40-$50 million in export value and keeps fishermen and plants busy for several months when few other fisheries are open. With at least 40% of herring licences held by Indigenous harvesters, fishing families in communities like Alert Bay on Vancouver Island will be especially hard hit as they struggle to make a living.

"HCRS believes that quotas in recent years were set at conservative levels that are well below the harvest rates recommended by eminent international scientists on the Pew Charitable Trust Lenfest Task Force on Forage Fish allowing sufficient fish for ecosystem needs. There is no evidence of any correlation between herring stocks and predator status, including Chinook salmon. Herring stocks, like most forage fish, are highly dynamic and significant increases or decreases are not unusual based mainly on changes in natural mortality factors. At harvest rates well below the Pew recommendations, it is not commercial fisheries that drive stock performance.

"Fisheries management is complex but the wild seafood industry believes that good stock assessment is the foundation of responsible management and sustainable fisheries. HCRS calls on the next government to make sure there is sufficient funding for DFO science and stock assessment, including ecosystem relationships. Herring science needs a long-term commitment."

SOURCE Herring Conservation and Research Society

For further information: Rob Morley, HCRS, 604.612.4758, rmorleyconsulting@gmail.com

Exactly, let's not light our hair on fire....follow the science, and if there is a sustainable harvest that level of harvest will be set by the Harvest Control Rules within the MSE model. Given the indicator trends, it is apparent that HCR's will be set well lower than prior years.

This is the most relevant quote.....

"Herring stocks, like most forage fish, are highly dynamic and significant increases or decreases are not unusual based mainly on changes in natural mortality factors. At harvest rates well below the Pew recommendations, it is not commercial fisheries that drive stock performance."

 

[Charter Tofino]

You’re quoting the VP of Canfisco in that article but clearly the “Herring Conservation and research society” handle is more appealing in this context. He’s hand picking his data and theories to suit the commercial agenda. No different than the left on the other side.

 

[wildmanyeah]

With chum numbers coming in horrible low, it will be up to the chinook, coho and pinks to fertilize the ecosystem this year.

Perhaps we should of just shut down all salmon fishing this year because the ecosystem needs it more than humans do.

IDK I just feel like if we keep pointing fingers to close down other peoples fisheries we shouldn’t expect that we will be on the water after everyone else is closed.

 

[fish4all]

You’re quoting the VP of Canfisco in that article but clearly the “Herring Conservation and research society” handle is more appealing in this context. He’s hand picking his data and theories to suit the commercial agenda. No different than the left on the other side.

Ex-VP. And if the “commercial agenda” is to follow the independently reviewed science what exactly is the problem?

 

[Charter Tofino]

That’s a fair argument and some of his points are certainly valid. When I read his idea that increasing herring numbers will decrease Chinook numbers that’s a pretty big flag though. Is he still employed in commercial industry?

 

[wildmanyeah]

When I read his idea that increasing herring numbers will decrease Chinook numbers that’s a pretty big flag though

I agree that is about as ridiculous as the argument ENGO scientists use that we should not cull seals because seals eat pacific cod and pacific cod it salmon smolts.

Those arguments however seem to be very effective in putting doubt into the general media.

 

[fish4all]

That’s a fair argument and some of his points are certainly valid. When I read his idea that increasing herring numbers will decrease Chinook numbers that’s a pretty big flag though. Is he still employed in commercial industry?

I was at the Herring meeting where the points were made. It was a response to an eco based management approach discussion. The point made was that we are a long way from understanding all the interactions in an eco system let alone try to manage that way and that juvenile salmon and herring do compete for the same food and therefore too much herring would have a negative impact on Chinook stocks.

As for Mr.Morely I do know he is retired from cfc.

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

This seems like a great idea. Shocking that it has taken so long for the conservationists to push for this.
Why pull so much biomass out of the water if we are trying to revive fish stocks on all levels?
There isn't really a market for the herring / roe anyways.

I wonder where all the herring goes - hmmm who would need all that mass? Maybe companies that are farming fish and need the mass for feed? Just a little conspiracy theory...but it is hard to get data on where the fish actually end up. Apparently the freezers in Japan are full and there isn't much demand.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local...-save-troubled-orcas-environmental-groups-say