Critics are blasting the province’s upcoming herring fishery, saying B.C. is the only jurisdiction on North America to allow herring to be harvested on the Pacific coast. Linda Aylesworth reports.
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🦦 Sea otters are making a comeback—and with them, the coast comes back to life!
Once hunted to local extinction in B.C. during the fur trade, sea otters are now helping restore balance to our marine ecosystems.
As a keystone species, they play a vital role in maintaining healthy kelp forests and estuaries—from controlling invasive crabs to keeping sea urchin populations in check.
Their return is more than a success story—it’s a sign of hope for thriving oceans.
Deep gratitude to the incredible team at @elakhaalliance for leading the return of sea otters to the Oregon coast. Their vision of coexistence, restoration, reciprocity, and resilience inspires us all.
Visit their page to learn more and support Indigenous-led conservation efforts in Oregon State.
#WorldAquaticAnimalDay #SeaOtter #MarineConservation #EcosystemRestoration #WildlifeRecovery #Biodiversity #Coexistence #PacificWild
The fight for Grizzlies isn’t over!
April 1 once marked the start of B.C.’s grizzly bear trophy hunt—until it was banned in 2017. While grizzlies can celebrate another spring without hunting, the ban was never legislated, making it vulnerable to reversal at the stroke of a pen..
Pacific Wild was instrumental in helping bring about the ban, and we continue to push for permanent legal protection.
Grizzly bears are a species at risk. Their long-term survival depends not only on policy reform but also on preserving the ecosystems they rely on. That’s why we’re advocating for:
✅ A Grizzly Bear Protection Act – a bill to outright BAN the grizzly hunt
✅ Connected corridors of protected habitat – particularly old-growth forests
✅ Food security – safeguarding wild salmon helps grizzly bears survive
Help us make protection permanent. Join the movement at the link in bio.
#GrizzlyBear #BCgrizzlies #PacificWild
🩵 Starting the week with positive news!
🐺 From wolves helping forests regrow, to salmon swimming home, and canopy bridges reconnecting the Amazon—there’s powerful progress happening for wildlife and ecosystems everywhere.
🌍 There’s a growing movement to build a better future with nature, not against it.
We need more of this!
#PositiveNews #Wolves #Forests #ChinookSalmon #WhalePee #ProjectaReconecta #OceanRestoration
🐟 Top 10 Animals That Rely On Pacific Herring
#10 – Black Bears
Rounding out our list is a surprising but powerful connection—black bears and Pacific herring.
In some coastal areas, herring roe makes up to 63% of a black bear’s springtime diet. These energy-rich eggs provide a crucial food source as bears emerge from hibernation, helping them recover and rebuild strength after the winter.
While these interactions are still observed today, they likely occurred even more frequently when herring populations were more stable and widespread.
Herring also supports bears indirectly—by feeding salmon. Herring convert plankton into energy-dense food for salmon, which are a key part of black bears’ summer and fall diets. When salmon return to spawn and die, they carry ocean nutrients into forests, supporting entire ecosystems. In some B.C. watersheds, up to 40% of the nitrogen in plants comes from salmon—a cascade that begins with forage fish like herring.
Protecting herring means protecting salmon, bears, and the health of coastal ecosystems.
Thanks for following along on our Top 10!
📸 @iantmcallister
#PacificWild #ProtectPacificHerring #BIGlittlefish #Herring #PacificHerring #Top10 #BlackBears #BCbears
🐟 Top 10 Animals That Rely On Pacific Herring
#9— Sea Lions
For sea lions, herring isn’t just a meal—it’s survival. This highly oily, nutrient-rich fish is a staple food source, helping these marine mammals maintain the blubber they need for warmth, energy, and reproduction.
Why Herring Matters
🐟 Herring is a high-quality, energy-dense fish that provides essential fats and nutrients.
🐟 Blubber is life. Without enough herring, sea lions struggle to maintain their fat reserves, impacting their health, survival, and reproductive success.
🐟 When Steller sea lions lose access to herring and have to switch to a lower-fat fish, like pollock, they have to eat a lot more! Sea lions would need to consume approximately 60% more pollock to achieve an equivalent energy intake as a herring-based diet.
Sea lions are a crucial part of the marine food web, but their survival depends on the availability of healthy herring populations. Without herring, the impacts ripple across the entire ecosystem.
Protecting herring means protecting sea lions and the balance of our oceans.
👉 Stay tuned as we reveal the final species in our Top 10 list that relies on Pacific herring!
📸 @iantmcallister
#PacificWild #ProtectPacificHerring #BIGlittlefish #Herring #PacificHerring #Top10 #SeaLions
For Tolkien Reading Day this year, we re-wrote one of his most famous poems to honour Pacific herring: the one fish to rule them all, the foundation of the food web.
Three herring for the migrating seabirds under the sky,
Seven for the cod and flatfish in their halls of benthic stone,
Nine for Pacific Salmon doomed to spawn and die,
One for the killer whales on their apex throne
In the Land of British Columbia where the spring seas rage.
One Fish to rule them all,
One Fish to find them,
One Fish to bring them all, and in the ocean bind them
While hobbits destroyed the One Ring on March 25 by casting it into a fiery mountain, we hope to PROTECT the one fish against heating oceans, overfishing and habitat destruction.
Support our work and follow Pacific Wild for more!
Poem adaptation by @sydneycdixon
#tolkienday #lordoftherings #Lordoftheringsmemes #herring #foragefish #marineconservation #environmentalcomedy #foodweb #killerwhales #orcas #beautifulbritishcolumbia
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