Pacific Wild has long recommended a moratorium on the commercial Pacific herring fishery. For the 2020/2021 herring fishing season, DFO has chosen to ignore the call of First Nations, conservationists, scientists, and local communities. Instead, they have approved another year of reckless quota, further decimating a struggling population. As a result of human exploitation and overfishing, only one of the five historically active Pacific herring fishing grounds remains active today, further demonstrating a long-term decline and systemic mismanagement.
Pulling together historical archives and fisheries management’s own records, Pacific Wild and author, Bryce Casavant has completed a new paper entitled The Fighting Fish in which we provide evidence that can no longer be ignored; the species is collapsing and has been in massive decline for decades. The Fighting Fish demonstrates acknowledgement of population shifts and mismanagement in decades-old provincial and federal fisheries reports.
We invite you to read this historical review of our relationship with Pacific herring. As active community members, we can do our part to learn about our coast’s long-standing relationship with herring and the neglect this species is currently facing. Without an immediate moratorium placed on the commercial herring fishery until such time that herring numbers can rebound and the known science can be more fully understood, our ecosystems and communities are in trouble. Help us protect this #BIGLittleFish for generations to come.
