NANAIMO — Turquoise shades of water signal an active herring spawn that escaped the Nanaimo area this year.
However, fishing boats have been active to the north in Parksville-Qualicum Beach, as operators look to cash in on nearly 12,800 tonnes of herring, or 14 per cent of the estimated adult herring stock available in the Strait of Georgia.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada regional pelagics manager Bryan Rusch told NanaimoNewsNOW on Wednesday, March 12, it appeared around 50 gillnet operators were near their allocation limits following a week on the water.
“We have had test boats going through the area and there was maturing fish and we collected some biological samples, but there hasn’t been any fishing activity that far south.”
The fishery is centred around regular hot spots of the Comox area, Denman and Hornby islands, as well as the Oceanside region, but not Nanaimo this year, Rusch said.
Roughly 40 seine boat operators were given Fisheries and Oceans Canada clearance to start harvesting herring for their valuable eggs on Sunday, March 9.
Rusch believes the fishery will likely conclude within the next few days.
He said documented spawns have drawn herring boat operators to the Oceanside area.
“Pretty consistently from Bowser down to French Creek and then pretty heavy spawn from French Creek south to about as far as Northwest Bay so far is what we’re seeing from the overflights.”
Reports of spawning herring have been reported consistently between the Bowser area and Parksville. (Chris Burger)Herring eggs are processed and then exported to Japan.
The fishery also supports on-shore processors and truckers, while birds and various marine life feed on herring and their eggs.
Between the mid-1980’s to 2022, the Strait of Georgia’s commercial herring roe harvest rate was 20 per cent, however, that was cut in half in 2022.
Stock assessments by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and public input help determine how much can be fished sustainably, Rusch said.
Conservation organizations and some Indigenous leaders have long called for a moratorium on the region’s commercial herring roe fishery.
The decision to boost the catch quota by four per cent this year angered opponents, however Rusch believes their approach is a balanced one.
“The fourteen per cent that was used this year was found to be highly likely to maintain the stock of our conservation goals,” he said.
In the fall smaller food, bait and special use herring fisheries take place. (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
Nutrient-rich herring eggs on beaches tend to leave a fowl stench. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)Subscribe to our daily news wrap. Local news delivered to your email inbox every evening. Stay up to date on everything Nanaimo and Oceanside.
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