By Sydney Dixon, Marine Specialist, Pacific Wild

Pacific herring are small, but their ecological importance is immense. They are a foundation of BC’s coastal food web, turning plankton into energy that sustains halibut, sea lions, humpback whales, and the endangered Southern Resident killer whales as well as coastal communities. Herring channel energy through the entire marine food web. On land, bears and wolves feast on washed-up eggs, while in the air, nutrient-dense herring roe fuels the migration of countless seabirds.

Each spring, herring return to sheltered bays to spawn. A single female can lay up to 20,000 eggs on eelgrass and kelp, while males release milt to fertilize them. This spectacle turns the water a brilliant turquoise — visible even from space — and creates one of the first major nutrient pulses of the season.

After 2-3 weeks, eggs hatch into translucent larvae that grow in protected coastal waters. Herring mature at 3-5 years old, can live more than a decade, and spawn repeatedly over their lifetimes.

Herring make a distinctive sound known as a “Fast Repetitive Tick,” or FRT, created by releasing tiny bubbles of air from their anus. These quick popping noises help the fish keep track of one another. Scientists believe older herring guide younger fish, passing down knowledge of migration routes and the best spawning grounds across generations.

Despite their importance, decades of overfishing, mismanagement, and flawed science have pushed many herring stocks to historic lows. Current management compares modern populations to already depleted numbers — a classic example of shifting baseline syndrome — which obscures the scale of decline. Archaeological evidence suggests herring have dropped to roughly 1% of their former abundance in parts of the province and have vanished from some areas entirely. Ongoing harvest pressure now threatens their recovery.

Pacific Wild, First Nations, and conservation partners are calling for a temporary moratorium on commercial seine and gillnet fisheries in the Strait of Georgia — Within the Salish Seas – to support herring recovery and protect the broader ecosystem.

Visit pacificwild.org to learn more and take action.