BC's Herring must be given the chance to recover from eighty years of industrial overfishing

Pacific herring are central in B.C. 's marine food web. They are a key "prey" fish, constituting 30 to 70 percent of the summer diets of Chinook salmon, Pacific cod, lingcod, and harbour seals in southern B.C. waters. Herring eggs (roe) are an important part of the diets of migrating seabirds and gray whales. Many invertebrate species such as crabs and starfish also thrive on the roe.

 

Researchers are amassing conclusive evidence that many species of birds, such as the threatened Harlequin ducks, need large volumes of the highly nutritious herring roe to ensure reproductive success when they migrate into the cold interior to nest in the spring.