Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

There is a pressing need to understand the pivotal role of low-trophic level fish in social-ecological systems. In British Columbia, Pacific herring feed marine mammals, seabirds and fish, and compete with zooplanktivores: herring changes ripple through the entire food web. Moreover, herring supply both commercial and First Nations fisheries. Industrial fisheries harvest herring roe and bait, while First Nations spawn-on-kelp fisheries allow adult fish to escape. Because of these strong ecological and human connections, significant declines and lack of recovery have had large system-wide impacts. Improved ecological science of herring requires ecosystem-based analysis and integration of this fishery's strong ecological and human impacts. We aim to understand herring services, fisheries, decline and recovery, working directly with Haida and Heiltsuk First Nations as Supporting Partners, for whom herring are embedded in traditional culture. Project collaborators include ecologists, geneticists, ecosystem and DFO scientists, archaeologists and social scientists researching this ecological and cultural nexus. Our interdisciplinary team of ecosystem, fishery and molecular scientists will work with these collaborators, enabling a unique social-ecological systems approach. First, alternative hypotheses of changes in herring abundance will be assessed, including climate-induced changes to growth, mortality and recruitment, disease, predation by marine mammals, and overfishing. Next, we will conduct a spatial analysis of herring's ecosystem services and management, integrating the latest advances in ecosystem modelling and molecular genetics, data from our partners, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Finally, we will synthesize these innovative ecosystem-based initiatives to advance forage fish science and understand how harvesting alters social-ecological systems. Outcomes will enable our Supporting Partners to engage in co-management for herring, using innovative ecosystem-based initiatives to support culture, local ecosystems and fisheries.