VF- Herring Outram, O.N . sI Canada's Pacific hemng THE !HJlfSE THAT HEltRl'NG BU/fJ'i. Proba'fi y nOfish has influenced the..course of human histoi< · as much as the common herring . Down through the _a€}es her:rin.g have determined the locatign of towns, evoked ac;ts.Jtf parliament, causedwairs-and created modern fish factories similar to that sra 6wn here. Their numbers are legion. l'he very word herri'Ag is derived from an ancient Teutonic term ''heer" meaning an army; an apt description of the legions of these fish swimming through the water. (Photograph of Reduction Plant courtesy of British­ Columbia Government.) CANADA'S PACIFIC HERRING By Donald N. Outram Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C. Photographs by C. Morley unless otherwise credited Published under Authority of the Minister by the DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES OF CANADA Ottawa, 1965 ROGEi! OUHAMEt. F.R.S.C.. OUEEN'S PRINTER ANO CONTROltER OF STATIONERY, OTTAWA.1965-CAT. No. Fs34·1965/I PRICE 35 CENTS ~ , Canada's Pacific Herring AT THE PORTALS of Canada's most are the pilchard (California sardine) and an f-1\westerly province lies the Pacific Ocean,a introduced species, the shad. Clupeoid fishes vast reservoir containing a bountiful array of occur in enormous numbers and in addition to plant and animal fo ~·ms. The fish fauna alone being important commercially, they are of in­ consists of over two hundred and fifty species, calculable value indirectly as a food supply for a big fish and little fish, flat fish and round fish, great number of predatory fishes that are them­ swift fish and slow fish, solitary fish and school­ selves vital to the fishing economy. ing fish. In the last category are herring, pos­ In 1847 the herring along the Pacific shores sibly the most plentiful of all. They form a was officially classified as C/upea pallasii to natural resource that is renewable year after distinguish it from the closely-related but some­ year with very little help from man. Since herring what larger Atlantic species C/upea harengus. schools move to and fro in a submarine world The Pacific herring is a bony, streamlined their migrations, their fluctuations in abundance fish about eight inches long. The mouth is large and their struggles to survive are not easy to with a slightly projecting lower jaw and the tail fathom. Their annual migrations from offshore, is deeply forked. The single dorsal fin is centrally­ summer feeding-grounds to inshore spawning­ placed on a back blue-green in colour shading grounds bring this living resource within easy away to iridescent silver on the sides. Like most reach of man. Clupeoidsthe Pacific herring have very oily flesh . Scientifically, herring belong to the family A swim bladder enables them to adjust to any C/upeidae; other Pacific coast representatives given depth. Herring are fast and graceful swim- 5 mers, characteristically travelling side by side sent as food to an army besieging the French in vast schools; single fish are seldom seen. town of Orleans. Elsewhere in the world, herring fisheries have never attained the importance of those in Europe. ANCIENT SOURCE OF FOOD Along Canada's Atlantic seaboard the herring Undoubtedly, herring were among the first fishery developed along with the cod fishery. coastal fishes to be used by man. They have The herring were used as bait by early French, been a source of food since before written Spanish and Portuguese fishing fleets. history, particularly in northern Europe. Along The role of the herring in the early history of the Danish coast ancient shellmoun ds dating the west coast of Canada is not as well docu­ back to 3000 8.C. have been found to contain mented as the European and the Canadian bone fragments of cod, eel, and herring. The Atlantic fisheries. Undoubtedly herring and her­ existence of a herring fishery near Yarmouth, ring roe were a source of food and an article of England can be traced back to 500 A.D. In 830 barter among Pacific coast Indians for centuries, A .D. records indicate Dutchmen journeyed to possibly as far back as 800 B.C., the date of the Scotland to purchase salted herring. The in­ earliest known coastal site. Sites in the adjacent fluence of the humble herring on the economy interior in the Fraser Canyon show evidence of and national history of the countries bordering fishing, presumably for salmon, as long as 9,000 the North Sea is widespread . Out of interest in years ago. herring have sprung merchant fleets, the ex­ The first written record of the presence of pansion of trade routes , treaties and acts of herring schools in British Columbia waters ap­ parliament, town locations and wars. In 1429, a pears in the diary of Archibald Menzies, natural­ struggle known as the Battle of Herrings was ist, aboard H.M.S. Discovery (Fig.1) commanded fought over a convoy of salted herring being by Captain George Vancouver. While mapping -~-:. ~-~-:::- - --_=_.;-~ ---==;:=== -:;;::_- .. - --------==- ==.-- - ·-. ~~~~ Figure 1. H.M.S. DISCOVERY-This well-t-.nown exploratory vessel was engaged during the 1790's in charting the then little t-.nown west coast waterways. Records of a naturalist aboard this boat were the first to note the presence of herring schools in local waters. This old steel engraving shows H.M.S. Discovery aground in Queen Charlotte Strait. 6 Figure 2. HERRING HAUNTS-An aerial view of the northern portion of the "Gulf Islands" archipelago. Amid island­ studded waterways li/<.e Trincomali Channel shown above, heavy herring catches are made each year. Herring spawn annually in the inlets and bays of Sallspring and Prevost Islands visible al the upper left. the British Columbia coast in July, 1792, herring utilized stock of herring in the northeastern were purchased for the ship's mess from Indians Pacific Ocean. An archipelago of over 100 at Stuart Island. islands ranging in size from kelp-covered, rocky Pacific herring from the Strait of Georgia were outcroppings of less than one acre to inhabited first used commercially as food by European islands of over 70 square miles provides ideal settlers around 1880. haunts for these herring. It should be noted here that at least ten other relatively separate populations of herring occur HERRING-HAUNTED SHORES along the British Columbia coast; two off the Under present-day conditions, a profitable west coast of 285-mile long Vancouver Island, fishery for herring requires that the schools be two bordering the northeast coast of Vancouver readily located, easily fished and available in Island, two amid central mainland waters, one large numbers. Herring of the Pacific seaboard along the northern mainland and at least two in certainly fulfil these qualifications, particularly the Queen Charlotte Islands. The locations of those shoals which inhabit the channels off the these fish populations are shown in the ac­ southeastern coast of Vancouver Island. Amid companying map (Fig. 3). Information is given an island-studded waterway known locally as in the figure legend on the average catch (in the "Gulf Islands" (Fig. 2) reaching from British tons) and amount of spawn (in miles) in each Columbia's capital city, Victoria, northward population. These populations, although not of about 70 miles to Nanaimo exists one of the equal size, have a similar biological background. most prodigious and possibly the longest- Rather than discuss each separately a review of 7 HERRING DISTRIBUTION MAP Fi:.h&ruj Ar~a..:;. Sro.wnin~ Anza.s Q\4~" Ch~.-\otte hi~""~ Br~ ti5h. C"I "m bio. c Figure 3. HERRING PO PU LA TIONS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA-Herring occur along the coast in a series of relatively separate populations. Each population migrates annually from an offshore, summer feeding-ground to an inshore spawning area. The locations of all the coastal herring populations are indicated in the map by the letters "A" to "K". Catch and spawn data show that these populations are not of equal size,- the lower east coast of Vancouver Island population (A) had averaged over a 20-year period (1941-60) 43 ,700 tons and a spawn deposition of 29 miles, the lower west coast of Vancouver Island population (8) 18,600 tons and 17 miles of spawn, the upper west coast of Vancouver Island population (C) 14,700 tons and 20 miles of spawn, the middle east coast of Vancouver Island population (D) 13,000 tons and 28 miles of spawn, the upper east coast of Vancouver Island population (E) 7,100 tons and 15 mi/es, the lower central mainland population (F) 19,300 tons and 33 miles, the upper central mainland population (G) 8,600 tons and 19 miles, the north­ ern mainland (H) 21,500 tons and 24 mi/es, the upper east coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands (/) 12,800 tons and 2 miles, the lower east coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands (J) 16,000 tons and 14 miles. Fish have been caught only once along the relatively unknown west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands (K) and little is known about the size of the spawning stock. 8 Figure 4. SPAWN-LADEN VEGETA­ TION-Blades of green eel grass are utilized by the spawners. Up to 500 eggs may be attached to an inch of vegetation. On a mile-Jong spawning­ ground averaging 30 yards in width there may be billions of eggs. Many spawning grounds become exposed at low tide. the activities of the most important, that found period the normally-active herring schools be­ along the south-eastern Vancouver Island come sluggish. It is at this time that the fisher­ shoreline, is present~d.