The WSÁNEĆ Hereditary Chiefs have asked me to post their Pacific Herring Declaration in preparation for their November 13th stand against the commercial fisheries of Pacific Herring in the Salish Sea. Join them at Tulista Park, Sidney at 9:30 AM where they will read their territorial declaration and request for a moratorium on the commercial herring fisheries. The Food and Bait Fishery is due to open on November 24th and will affect the last overwintering populations in the Salish Sea. This will be the first time in 40 years that the hereditary chiefs from all four nations have publicly gathered in regalia to strengthen and remind people of their territorial responsibilities to steward the waters and land of WSÁNEĆ.
Pacific Herring Declaration
November 12, 2024
We, the WSÁNEĆ Hereditary Chiefs, note that Pacific herring play a critical role in the health of our people and our relatives from Chinook salmon to the Southern Resident Killer Whales. Our resident Pacific herring spawning populations and winter herring populations (locations targeted by commercial fisheries for spawn and winter food and bait)[1] have been reduced dramatically in WSÁNEĆ territory[2]. With an exceptionally high quota assigned the Food and Bait fishery this year [3]—despite all the concerns we have raised over the years—has led us to call again for a moratorium on all commercial herring fisheries. This will provide our overwintering and migrating herring with a refuge from the commercial fishing pressure that is present almost year-round in the Strait of Georgia.
We stand with all coastal nations asking for the rebuilding of our local herrings stocks and restoration of their habitat, including the Q’ullhanumutsun Aquatic Resources Society and its Members who have endorsed the closures of the Food and Bait, Special Use, and Roe Herring commercial fisheries in the waters contained within the Southern Gulf Islands.
SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE WSÁNEĆ PEOPLE BY THE HEREDITARY CHIEFS OF WSÁNEĆ
LESĆIM (SIMON SMITH SR.)
TSARTLIP
TELW̱OMET (ALVIN WILLIAMS)
PAUQUACHIN
XÁLÁȾE (VERN JACKS)
TSEYCUM
W̱IĆKINEM (ERIC PELKEY)
TSAWOUT
SXÁLIYE (VERNON HARRY)
TSAWOUT
TELAXTEN (PAUL SAM SR)
TSARTLIP
[1] Noted by DFO fisheries scientists, J.F. Schweigert and N. Linekin, The Georgia and Johnston Straits Herring Bait Fishery in 1986: Results of a Questionnaire Survey, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences No. 1721, January 1990.
Non-migratory spawning locations: Ganges, Long Harbour and Nose Point, Fulford Harbour, Saanich Inlet, Annette Inlet, Annette Point, Birdseye Cove, Captain Passage, Chain Islands, Colburne Passage, Ellen Bay, Genoa Bay, Glenthorne Passage James Bay, Prevost Island, Selby Cove, Welbury Bay, Boot Cove, Campbell Bay, King Islets, Lyall Harbour, Payne Point, Port Browning, Samuel Cove, Saturna Island, Winter Cove, Coal Point, Coles Bay, Deep Cove, Finlayson Arm, Goldstream Flats, Patricia Bay, Saanich Inlet, Tod Inlet, Towner Bay. Winter bait populations: Sansum Narrows, Swanson Channel, Port Browning, Bedwell Harbour, Navy Channel, Porlier Passage.
[2] This time-lapse video on the extinction of local spawning sites was prepared using DFO data from the 1950s to the 2000s.
[3] https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/mplans/herring-hareng-ifmp-pgip-sm-eng.html (“FSC, Food and Bait, Special Use, and Roe herring opportunities (10% harvest rate) to a maximum of 8,058 tons.”)
[4]

0 Comments