Let the Herring Live! Eric Pelkey is done pretending BC fishers should still be capturing herring. The Community Engagement Coordinator for the W̱SÁNEĆ leadership council talks about a proposed boycott, over-fishing, under-enforcement and the disappearance of a keystone species with significance to the W̱SÁNEĆ Nation and the entire eco-system of the Salish Sea. “Without the herring the salmon can’t live. The sea lions can’t live. The seals can’t live. And if there’s no salmon, the killer whales and the larger sea mammals can’t live either. No salmon, no killer whales… The herring is a keystone species for the survival of life within the Salish Sea.”

Shownotes:

3:11 “The importance of herring to our people is immeasurable.” A trade item. A food source. And more.

6:31 “Herring and other fish provided a really substantial part of our diet… Not having that seafood and herring has really had a detrimental effect to the health of our people. Especially the First Nations women.”

10:20 How real is the herring “fishery” as an industry?

11:30 The history of herring fishing and when the herring were everywhere.

14:09 The Canadian government allowing over-fishing. “They went in there and took whole communities at once. And wiped them right out.”

15:10 “Without the herring the salmon can’t live. The sea lions can’t live. The seals can’t live. And if there’s no salmon, the killer whales and the larger sea mammals can’t live either. No salmon, no killer whales… The herring is a keystone species for the survival of life within the Salish Sea.”

16:28 “The DFO is supposed to be the protector of the fish, of the sea… but the DFO speaks only to the commercial industry and listens only to them. And doesn’t listen to us.”

17:45 “They’re gonna do the same thing that they did on the east coast with the cod… it’s like you’re putting another arrow into the backs of the First Nations people.”

18:30 “They’re willing to wipe out the herring for a few dollars more… for a few dollars.”

19:40 “Let the herring live!”

23:33 “Talk to your MLA or MP about the importance of herring.”

24:19 How long the moratorium should last – 20-25 years. Real science vs. pseudoscience.

25:32 His herring necklace.

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