Herring return to Puget Sound in record numbers

Tribal fisherman reap the harvest as experts untangle the mystery

Thomas Cordero, Sr. squinted at the wind blowing in from the east. The white capped waters off the Suquamish dock on this recent day in March hid a blizzard of fins and silver sweeping by just below the surface.

The Suquamish Tribe Elder said he couldn’t remember when he’d seen so many herring in these waters. “It’s been 20 years at least,” he said. “Maybe there’s never been this many.”

All his son Michael knew was that he could hardly get his net into the water before he was straining to pull his haul back into his small fishing skiff.

Repairing their nets on the dock before heading back out again, both men kept a watchful eye on the line of sea lions who were enjoying their own fishing frenzy from the abundant surge of herring just a few hundred yards away.

The sea lions haven’t been the only one’s getting into the action, said Suquamish Tribe fisheries biologist Jonathan Oleyar.

Seals, eagles, and a range of other sea birds have all been competing for the fish as well. A pod of orca were even spotted off of Old Man House Park.

Return of the herring

Tribal fishermen report that the schools have been moving southwest through Agate Passage and into the waters

near Port Orchard and into Liberty Bay.

The herring, said Oleyar, “have been spawning from President’s Point all the way into the entrance of Liberty Bay, near Lemolo.”

Oleyar said in the more than 20 years he’s worked for the Tribe, there’s been no record of enough herring for Tribal fisherman to even bother trying to catch the fish, which make excellent bait.

But this year, Tribal fisherman in just one week alone were reporting hauls from 500 lbs. all the way up to 2000 lbs.

“Not too shabby considering the sea mammals and birds are consuming at least that amount in just a few hours’ time,” he said.

“This is an event to remember,” Oleyar added, “I just hope all these sea mammals leave when the herring run is finished or we may have an issue getting our salmon back into the hatchery!”

Untangling a mystery

The historic swell of herring should largely be good news for salmon, said Steve Todd, another biologist for the Suquamish Tribe, who specializes in salmon recovery.

Pacific herring is a forage fish that is vital to the Puget Sound food web.

“Herring deposit their eggs on eelgrass and other marine vegetation, and provide food for Chinook salmon,” said Todd. “Many other creatures also benefit from the herring, including larger fish, marine birds and mammals. Where there are herring, there is a frenzy of wildlife looking for their next buffet.”

Herring deposit their eggs on eelgrass and other marine vegetation, and provide food for Chinook salmon, and other sea life

But herring numbers have been dwindling since the 1970s, he said. The reason why remains a mystery.

“We’re still learning why herring stocks have declined in Puget Sound, but a loss of eelgrass beds, poor water quality including toxic contaminants, shoreline development, disease, predation, and climate change are among the culprits,” said Todd.

But with the herring’s sudden surge comes new, more hopeful mysteries. Indeed, experts throughout the region are asking why are they coming back in such big numbers? Todd has some theories. “The impressive spawn this year might reflect a more favorable shift in ocean conditions for the herring, including abundant food – herring eat zoo plankton – and/or recovery of eelgrass beds or other marine vegetation at least in local parts of Puget Sound,” said Todd.

Perhaps the more practical question, though, is will it continue?

In the meantime, Todd, Oleyar, and other experts throughout the region will keep close watch and learn all they can about the return of the herring, even as Tribal fishermen – alongside the orca and the sea lions, the salmon and the eagles – continue to enjoy their bounty.

“The cultural importance of this event runs deep,” said Oleyar. “This is a time when Tribal fishers are able to harvest and gather a species that was abundant here, but until now has only been heard of in the stories passed on from their parents and Elders.”

Back on the Suquamish dock, the Corderos see the line of sea lions pushing closer. It’s time to get back out on the water for another haul.

By Jon Anderson