For some people, the small, silver, slender fish and its roe are a tasty side dish.
For others, it makes good bait.
Herring have long been valued by First Nations, including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation).
For marine life, the slhawt' (herring) is a foundational species. This means that it builds or sustains the ecosystem of Átl'ka7tsem (Howe Sound).
From salmon to bears, to sea birds, to orcas and many creatures in-between, depend on herring as a food source.
Herring have been recognized for their importance and helped by locals.
Surveys
Citizen scientist John Buchanan has long done regular herring surveys on his own.
Three years ago, Squamish school teacher Matthew Van Oostdam got involved with conducting surveys.
What would become organized herring surveys sprang from when he was crabbing and "thought it was cool" to look for herring.
He said he was encouraged by marine conservationist Fiona Beaty to start documenting more scientifically what he was seeing.
This morphed into a more official Slhawt’ Survey Program in 2021, with funding from the Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Marine Stewardship Initiative (MSI).
"Our research, and my work is fully based on their support right now; at the scale that it is; it would not be happening without their support. They provide all the infrastructure, insurance and liability and the relationships to make it happen," said Van Oostdam, who is now the project's co-ordinator.
It is a community effort.
The project is a partnership between the Squamish Nation - Ta na wa Yúus ta Stitúyntsam̓ (Rights and Title Department), MSI, the Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative, Squamish Streamkeepers and St’a7mes School.
The survey program includes two parts. Surveying in the estuary/land area around town and then the boat/ocean region of the sound.
"There is a team of volunteers who are essential to surveying the estuary/land region, and the depth of this work would not be possible without their dedication," Van Van Oostdam said.
The boat survey team in 2023 was made up of Van Oostdam, Kieran Brownie, Jonny Williams, Matty Moore and Addison Farr from Seadog Expeditions.
"We literally put wetsuits on and swim, like 10 kilometres of shoreline a day," Van Oostdam said of some of the survey work.
The information — where and when herring spawn — is collected is input into the MSI Marine Reference Guide.
The information is publicly available at: howesoundguide.ca.
The importance of herring has also been incorporated into the teachings at St'a7mes School - Cultural Journeys and Learning Expeditions where Van Oostdam teaches.
Survey says
Van Oostdam noted what is certain from the survey work is that there are herring all around Howe Sound.
The 2022 survey season saw the survey crew conduct approximately 118 slhawt’ spawn surveys, according to that year's annual report.
Van Oostdam is currently putting together the report for 2023’s season.
In his report for 2022, Van Oostdam said an interesting observation that can be made based on the spawn events documented is that slhawt’ came into the Skwelwil’lem Estuary and town of Squamish area in January, February and March to spawn.
"By the end of March there was then a big spawn along the Foulger Creek to Woodfibre Creek area. Almost three weeks later, there was then a big spawn event all along the Mamquam Blind Channel. This was the last documented spawn of 2022."
The aim is for the information to be used by those in power when they make decisions that impact the land and water.
"The Marine Reference Guide ... is an open source map that anyone has access to and can go on and look it up. You can look up all these data layers that tell you what species are there and once using that habitat. And the idea is that the district of Squamish and DFO and other legislators and whoever needs to, can easily access this information and use it to make informed decisions,” Van Oostdam said.
He notes that the area the highest densities of spawn are seen in the estuary.
The bottom line for Van Oostdam is herring — and the other species that make up the marine ecosystem — matter.
"Herring and all these species in the ocean are right outside of our homes. Right on the other side of these sea walls are these barriers and we're often oblivious to those things," he said. "We're living in a world that is changing very quickly, and people are talking about the climate changing and all these things. I think a big part of that problem is that we don't have the relationship to those little things around us. We don't realize the role that herring play.”
This is where Sxwíxwtn Wilson Williams, Squamish Nation councillor and spokesperson, thinks Nation teachings come into play.
“We've had many ceremonies over the past few years in regards to the herring coming back and its teachings that will create awareness of how important it is for them coming back,” he said. “We lost a lot of species in the Howe Sound due to a lot of growth in and industrial growth in the communities, so we want to make sure we're paying back," he said.
“But at the same time, it creates awareness more on the climate emergency and the wealth and health of our oceans as well. So I think that's perfect time to start educating our next generations on how important that is to our future of the health and wellness of our oceans.”
Streamkeepers
While people initially caused a decline in herring in our region, they are working to understand where they are at now and to help them along.
"We saw a massive decline in the health of the sound when all these large-scale extractive industries popped up like the pulp mill, the mine, all these things. People agree that caused a huge decline. And since the closing of those places, we have seen a return in the health of the ecosystem," said Van Oostdam.
Squamish Streamkeepers have long worked to create opportunities for herring to spawn.
"They did things to create spawning opportunities for herring, which was really cool. And, was likely beneficial," said Van Oostdam.
Conservationist Buchanan said that his interest in herring and why he started doing his own surveys more than a decade ago was because the Streamkeepers work drew him in.
"They are really, really good at public education," he said. "If it weren't for these guys, herring would not be at the forefront of the media the way it is now."
Find out about the streamkeepers work at the Squamish Terminals on the company's website.
This video by Bob Turner, explains the life cycle of herring.
