Squamish Streamkeepers
Hundreds if not thousands of tons of herring spawned in the Mamquam Blind Channel in the 1960’s. This mass of herring in turn fed salmon, cod, birds, sea mammals and humans, who could easily scoop up a bucket of herring at will. Life thrived in Howe Sound in those days. This ended by the 1970’s with the industrial development of the Mamquam Blind Channel. It was assumed that the lack of herring meant that the herring had moved elsewhere to spawn.
The development of Squamish Terminals (SQT) in 1972 opened new spawning areas for herring which had been in decline in the area for many years. Bladder wrack seaweed growing in the newly placed riprap along the Terminal shoreline allowed some herring to spawn successfully (pictured above). However, most of the herring sought the more protected and quiet area to spawn under the East dock. The dock was constructed in the traditional style of the time with pilings that were treated with creosote to protect them from marine borers that would attack wooden structures in the ocean waters. The creosote unfortunately and unknowingly killed the herring eggs laid upon the pilings.
In 2006, the Squamish Streamkeepers were checking the net pens that SQT put in to aid salmon enhancement and stumbled onto dead herring eggs on the creosote pilings under the East dock. With support from Squamish Terminals and funding from the Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO), the Streamkeepers began wrapping the pilings with various materials to see what might protect the delicate eggs from creosote damage. After multiple attempts a material was found that protected the herring eggs and a successful hatch was the result.
With Squamish Terminals' cooperation, efforts by the Streamkeepers and good spawning conditions around the Terminals, the Howe Sound herring run is seeing positive results with a few billion eggs hatching out since 2006 and juvenile herring schools have been observed leaving Howe Sound for the open sea. Findings in 2010 proved that herring prefer the wrapped pilings and seaweed over everything else (wrapped pilings pictured below).
Today about 200 timber pilings of the inner 4 rows under the East dock and about 100 concrete pilings under the West dock have been wrapped by Squamish Streamkeepers’ volunteers. Also, under the East dock the Squamish Streamkeepers installed a 300 foot by 6 foot float line that can be spawned on both sides, which doubles the spawning surface area.
A recent assessment of the 2011 Squamish herring spawn performed by Dr. Jonn Matsen, Co-Chair and Herring Coordinator, indicates that all the eggs have hatched out and will return in three years (2014) to spawn. With this in mind, the Squamish Streamkeepers continue looking for ways to enhance and expand the herring spawning area under the Terminal’s docks. Wildlife such as dolphins and whales has been found feeding in Howe Sound and are believed to benefiting from the return of the herring.
For more information, visit the Squamish Streamkeepers online at www.squamishstreamkeepers.net.
Contributed by Dr. Jonn Matsen, Co-Chair and Herring Coordinator, Squamish Streamkeepers
