Specifically, WWF Canada says that herring and other small fish, a vital food source for whales, seabirds and other predators are in decline and more needs to be done to protect them, reports Metro News.
The conservation group studied 27 fisheries against nine criteria, finding three fisheries in Atlantic Canada in critical condition. This includes two herring stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Atlantic mackerel stocks.
“Other fisheries of concern include the Atlantic herring in southwest Nova Scotia… Atlantic herring in Fortune Bay, N.L., and the Pacific herring in Haida Gwaii,” the report said. “For all these fisheries, an important factor in the decline was attributed to changes in the environment.”
The report also says that in all the capelin fisheries and the British Columbia fisheries, at least 75 percent of the fisheries’ stock status is unknown. In all the cases, fisheries management does not sufficiently take into account predator needs. “It’s shocking that many of these fisheries are being managed without adequate information about the stocks,” says the report.
“Populations of large predators like humpback whales, along with seabirds and commercial species such as cod, will never recover if they don’t have enough food to eat,” David Miller, president and CEO of WWF-Canada, said in a news release.
What are forage fish?
Forage fish are small fish species such as capelin and herring and are the most abundant fish in the ocean’s mass. They are an important source of food for predator species such as humpback whales, minke whales and harbor seals, making up 75 percent of their diet.
Forage fish are also preyed upon by seabirds and a number of commercial fish species, such as cod. These small fish are very susceptible to environmental changes and are also threatened by overfishing because they are easy to catch when they congregate in shallow, shoreline shoals.
CTV News is reporting that Heather Grant of the Ecology Action Center in Halifax says that the issue of limiting the amount of forage fish taken is very complex because the fish are not only food for predators, but they are also used for bait by lobster and crab fisheries.
“There’s also a lot of uncertainty in the science and there’s so much we don’t know about what’s happening… So there’s a lot of reluctance to take a precautionary approach to managing the species because of those economic implications,” Grant adds.
David Miller sums up the issue, saying, “WWF Canada’s report demonstrates that there is a lot of work to be done, protecting the forage fish that underpin the health of our ocean ecosystems.”
