||| FROM SHANNON DAVIS for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS |||
A very exciting and significant event happened in East Sound this week- the annual herring spawn! Each spring, in bays across the Salish Sea, herring spawning events create what looks like white clouds or “whitewater” from the shore, as seen in this photo taken earlier this week in Fishing Bay, just south of the town of Eastsound.
Herring are small but important forage fish that lay their eggs on eelgrass and other aquatic vegetation. They are an important species to many in the Salish Sea including salmon, birds, seals, and humans and they rely on healthy nearshore habitats.
“I couldn’t believe I could see the whitewater from the road as I pulled into Eastsound! It was an exhilarating feeling to witness a herring spawning event for my first time,” said Friends’ Community Science and Education Manager, Jess Newley.
Herring spawn in Fishing Bay, Orcas Photo by Mike O’Connell
Only a handful of bays in the islands are critical herring spawning habitat. For the next couple of weeks, keep a lookout in Shoal, Hunter, and Mud Bay on Lopez; Blind Bay on Shaw; and East and West Sound on Orcas. If you see signs of whitewater or extra bird and seal activity in these bays, please email Jess@sanjuans.org or contact Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife herring researchers directly at Erin.jaco@wdf.wa.gov
Boaters and waterfront property owners can take many steps to help herring and the marine food webs that support salmon and our endangered southern resident orca. Please visit Friends of the San Juans website for information: for boaters https://sanjuans.org/greenboating and waterfront property owners https://sanjuans.org/2018/09/02/living-with-the-shoreline-guide/.
Fantastic! So good to know that the ancient patterns are not completely screwed up!
Wonderful news!
Go Herring!!!
Last summer I noticed (a bit to my surprise) that the eelgrass beds were especially luxuriant just off the Eastsound public dock. Perhaps this is related to the herring spawn now being observed, as it must have been providing good forage-fish habitat.
This is the sac roe herring fishery season up in Sitka and Southeast Alaska. The Sitka quota a couple of years ago was about 33,000 tons +/-. The herring is seined for the roe. The vast majority of the roe is packaged and and sent to Japan. The herring (and roe) is a staple in the Tlingit and Haida culture. This fishery is very contentious! I’m hoping to see some “whitewater” in East Sound.
Correction: The 2017 Sitka Sac Roe Herring harvest was 13,923 tons.