News

Cautious approach to Canadian pacific herring management

Herring
Canada
Published Dec 25, 2021

Tridge summary

Cautious approach to Canadian Pacific herring management. The Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, has announced a more cautious approach to Pacific herring management, based on recently intensified risks to wild salmon, for which herring is an important food source. This approach will see most commercial fisheries for Pacific herring closed, and limited to First Nations food, social and ceremonial fisheries. For the Strait of Georgia, harvesting will be reduced to a 10% harvest rate, with a maximum total allowable catch of 7,850 tonnes. DFO will soon release the draft Integrated Fisheries Management Plan

Original content

(IFMP), which outlines the scientific projections and proposed management measures for the upcoming season. This decision was taken with the aim of providing sustainable fishing opportunities and increasing stock abundance, to the benefit of the entire ecosystem. This approach extends the cautious approaches taken in recent years, with additional limits on harvest, and considers the decline of wild Pacific salmon, and the impacts of the recent floods and landslides on fish habitats in British Columbia. Pacific herring are an important food source for salmon, sea birds, marine mammals and other fish species. Maintaining a healthy herring stock is vital to the health of the ecosystem of coastal British Columbia, and this year’s harvest plan will continue to conserve, protect and regenerate herring stocks for the future. The Honourable Joyce Murray, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, said: “When managing our fisheries, we have to consider the local fish ...
Source: Fish Focus
By clicking “Accept Cookies,” I agree to provide cookies for statistical and personalized preference purposes. To learn more about our cookies, please read our Privacy Policy.