“Harriet the Herring” is back!
The Squamish Chief attended the annual Herring Happenings event at the Brackendale Art Gallery (the BAG) on May 22.
The event consisted of a presentation of recaps from both shore and water-based surveys, research from UBC about spawn trends, volunteer’s stories and short films, as well as awards and trivia.
The event was hosted by conservationists and volunteers from non-profit Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Marine Stewardship Initiative (MSI).
The MSI have carried out spawn monitoring in various sites around Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound each year since 2020.
They affectionately dub the herring and their spawn “Harriet and her family.”
At the event, the MSI representatives spoke about how the monitoring of herring spawn and subsequent conservation efforts contribute to community-building, cultural affirmation, and inter-generational teachings of First Nations peoples.
Herring are a vital food source for all kinds of marine and land animals (and humans) in B.C.
The Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) have harvested slhawt’ (herring) and their spawn, typically from February to May each year, from Howe Sound since time immemorial. This season is known as Tem Lhawt'—The Time of Herring.
Since the turn of the century, dozens of volunteers have contributed to the sound’s ecological restoration, with more than 80 participating this year with the MSI, and the Nation. The restoration has, for example, resulted in more seaweed and its production of oxygen, which was presented at the event as a contributing factor to the herrings’ survival.
According to MSI project co-ordinator and speaker Matthew Van Oostdam, the largest recent spawn documented was in 2023.
Most spawns this year were observed in February along the Squamish Terminals and Cattermole slough, while the least survived on the Mamquam Blind Channel at the Sirocco sheet pile walls.
Herring are R-strategists, meaning they have a short lifespan, and so reproduce exponentially- around 20,000 eggs per herring.
Van Oostdam said that although the herrings’ high mortality rate was more prevalent this year, this has fed the ecosystem substantially.
This year, dolphins were seen for three to four weeks.
Van Oostdam also reflected on observing a mother bear and cub last month eating the largest spawn, in the sound near Foulger Creek, despite nearby log dumps and ongoing construction related to an LNG terminal.
“It was one of the more special moments,” he said.
Previously, pollution in the sound from industry had not only made spawn levels plummet, (formal monitoring was paused in 2001 for this reason), it had also affected individuals’ relationships with the water.
Nation member Kwewawtennat, one of the guest speakers, said she feared going into Howe Sound as a child, and what could be within it.
“I was growing up here with black water, you couldn’t see [underneath],” she said.
Since Kwewawtennat began snorkelling and diving with MSI, and spawn harvesting, she said she built upon her sacred connection with water itself and her appreciation for the ecosystem.
In her story-telling at the BAG event, she reflected on being “in prayer” whilst on canoe pulls for up to 12 hours, and how it was a new way for her to look at the world.
“Snorkelling and diving [with Van Oostdam] ignited my passion for sealife. I didn’t expect it to be so full of life,” she said.
“In my community, it was nice to be a part of the celebrations where we would put out the cedar boughs and harvest the ch’em’esh (eggs),” she added.
“I was surprised, like, you had to have a really strong but delicate hand at the same time.”
Van Oostdam is also a teacher at St'a7mes School, where the herring is welcomed back each year, and knowledge is shared so future generations may continue the Nations’ teachings.
In early April, there was a gathering at the Nation’s Totem Hall, with attendees sharing songs, dances, and stories about herring, followed by a seafood meal. The herring was smoked for around six hours, and distributed to the community’s Elders.
You can volunteer with the MSI, donate, or subscribe for project updates via their website.
Ina Pace is The Squamish Chief's Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) reporter.
This reporting was produced through the LJI, which supports original civic journalism across Canada.
