Ha'wiih hold the line on commercial herring catch until abundance is clear
Port Alberni, BC The Council of Ha'wiih (hereditary chiefs) and their representatives from 14 Nuu-chah-nulth Nations gathered at the Italian Hall in Port Alberni Oct. 7 and Oct. “We have been the ones that have watched that slow progression to improvement. Yes, it’s starting to come back, but it needs to be like that every season. We are the ones that have been keeping the department to tow the line in terms of resource management.
We are not opposed to it, we are just saying do it right. Tla-o-qui-aht fisheries manager Andrew Jackson weighed in. “We need to continue to keep it closed. We need to hold the line. We can’t say it’s recovered yet because herring is just starting to show up in our territory,” said Jackson.
Under the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) management plans, the west coast of Vancouver Island has been closed for a commercial herring roe fishery since 2005 – with the exception of 2014 and 2015. In those respective years a Nuu-chah-nulth-led court injunction blocked the commercial catch, followed by a meagre season in 2015 that yielded no significant harvest. DFO’s Pacific Herring Science Team presented spawn data to the Council of Ha’wiih on Oct. 8.
“One of the things we found is the urchins were the problem. The urchins are coming in and they are grazing down the kelp. “Increasing that ocean survivability is a big part of it. It all trickles back to kelp,” said LaFlamme. “That’s nation-to-nation, community led harvest planning; a rebuilding plan.
These herring can be transplanted. Ahousaht has a really good herring stock at the moment. We had 20 days that were completely flooded. Where we really want to go forward to at the moment is continuing our stewardship programs with other nations,” said Hasheukumiss. He invited all Nuu-chah-nulth nations that don’t have an abundance of herring in their territory to send their guardians over.
“We rebuild it ourselves. “I’ve seen the resource collapse three times in my lifetime. That’s unacceptable,” said Webster. “The big boys are starving that’s why there’s a big push to open it. Larry Johnson, chair of the Maa-nulth Fisheries Committee and president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Seafood Development Corporation, suggested working towards an open pond fishery.
“If we are forced to make a decision, I would recommend we support open pond,” said Johnson. Nuu-chah-nulth Uu-a-thluk director of fisheries Jim Lane is preparing a letter for DFO which outlines the Council of Ha’wiih’s key messages regarding herring. • With a file from Eric Plummer
We are not opposed to it, we are just saying do it right. Tla-o-qui-aht fisheries manager Andrew Jackson weighed in. “We need to continue to keep it closed. We need to hold the line. We can’t say it’s recovered yet because herring is just starting to show up in our territory,” said Jackson.
Under the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) management plans, the west coast of Vancouver Island has been closed for a commercial herring roe fishery since 2005 – with the exception of 2014 and 2015. In those respective years a Nuu-chah-nulth-led court injunction blocked the commercial catch, followed by a meagre season in 2015 that yielded no significant harvest. DFO’s Pacific Herring Science Team presented spawn data to the Council of Ha’wiih on Oct. 8.
“One of the things we found is the urchins were the problem. The urchins are coming in and they are grazing down the kelp. “Increasing that ocean survivability is a big part of it. It all trickles back to kelp,” said LaFlamme. “That’s nation-to-nation, community led harvest planning; a rebuilding plan.
These herring can be transplanted. Ahousaht has a really good herring stock at the moment. We had 20 days that were completely flooded. Where we really want to go forward to at the moment is continuing our stewardship programs with other nations,” said Hasheukumiss. He invited all Nuu-chah-nulth nations that don’t have an abundance of herring in their territory to send their guardians over.
“We rebuild it ourselves. “I’ve seen the resource collapse three times in my lifetime. That’s unacceptable,” said Webster. “The big boys are starving that’s why there’s a big push to open it. Larry Johnson, chair of the Maa-nulth Fisheries Committee and president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Seafood Development Corporation, suggested working towards an open pond fishery.
“If we are forced to make a decision, I would recommend we support open pond,” said Johnson. Nuu-chah-nulth Uu-a-thluk director of fisheries Jim Lane is preparing a letter for DFO which outlines the Council of Ha’wiih’s key messages regarding herring. • With a file from Eric Plummer
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