Troller: Herring Season

One of the greatest highlights in the natural world along the B.C. coast is the annual spawning of millions of Pacific Herring. After a long winter this bonanza of easy-to-catch protein is an absolute saviour for a huge variety of fish, birds, and mammals, including humans. The herring gather in late February along their chosen section of shoreline and first start laying eggs on the stones and seaweed in shallow water in the first week of March in Georgia Strait. Further north the timing can be a few weeks later. The tiny, clear eggs can pile up several inches thick on every surface for several kilometres of the intertidal zone. The male’s milt turns the water into an opaque milky colour for days following the spawn. There is a lucrative market for herring roe in Japan which is harvested from female fish caught just before they spawn. With snow still on the hillsides hundreds of fish boats join the frenzy carrying gill or seine nets and head to their allotted section of coast from all the B.C. port towns. I have shown a typical troller, the Ocean’s Edge, towing a herring skiff sporting a shaker bar and gill net heading to an opening through McKay Reach south of Prince Rupert.

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