Catching 200 million fish in the Georgia Strait?
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- Published on Tuesday, 15 January 2019 13:22
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PAOV — Fisheries and Oceans Canada is planning to approve the catch of up to 20 percent of the spawning herring in the Strait of Georgia. Local marine life — like salmon, killer whales and seabirds — depend on this keystone species for survival. This petition calls on the government to shut down the Pacific herring roe fishery so that critical herring schools along the coast can be rebuilt. If you agree, add your name.
Petitioning MP Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
MP Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister, Fisheries and Oceans Canada: Say NO to Pacific Herring Roe Fishery
Petition by Conservancy Hornby Island
Canada
8,766
Supporters
Sign now with a click
Conservancy Hornby Island is requesting the federal government to shut down the Pacific herring roe fishery planned for March 2019. Again this year, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is preparing to approve the catch of approximately 200 million spawning herring in the Georgia Strait - the last viable herring roe fishery on the coast - without considering what impact this may have on all the other sea creatures who rely on this one species of forage fish.Pacific herring is the basis for the food web that supports the salmon, killer whales and most of the other mammals, seabirds and other creatures who, with us, call this place home. 80% of the chinook salmons' diet is herring, and over 80% of the endangered southern resident killer whales' diet is chinook.
The herring fishery is worth little money and produces few jobs. 30 years ago the fishermen got as much as $5000 a ton for the fish, now it is as low as $150 and maybe $700 in a good year. What happened? Japanese taste changed. Where herring roe was once considered a delicacy it is no longer by younger Japanese. Times change and yet DFO keeps allowing this outdated fishery to carry on.
Even worse, 90% of the herring are ground up for fish farm food and pet food. Using wild fish for non-human consumption is illegal under the federal Fisheries Act. When 90% of the herring is used for fish farm and pet food is the federal Minister of Fisheries breaking the law?
DFO states that management will be guided by the principles of “Ecosystem Based Management" and "Risk Aversion" and "Precautionary Principle" yet DFO management has, in the last 20 years, resulted in the closure of 4 of the 6 major herring stocks on the BC coast. How can we believe that DFO is managing this valuable public resource in the best interests of all of us and our marine ecosystem?
The last remaining major Pacific Herring spawn from Washington State to Alaska is in the northern Strait of Georgia from Nanaimo to Comox. Wouldn’t it make sense to leave this stock alone to hopefully rebuild all the herring schools on our coast and the marine life that need them for survival?
Please sign this petition now to send your concerns to the politicians who can stop this unsustainable fishery.
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