Herring School

As part of HerringFest 2020, Conservancy Hornby Island brought together a group of Scientists, Conservationists, and Artists to discuss this year’s theme, “Herring, Salmon, and Orca, and the Salish Sea.”

We are pleased to share these videos with you to further your education, spur your curiosity, and send to friends, family, and colleagues.

We encourage you to make a donation of $5 to help us further our conservation and education efforts.

Thanks, and enjoy!

DAN LEWIS: Salmon Farms—Herring Farms? Connections between salmon farming and the demise of herring

Dan Lewis is Executive Director of Clayoquot Action in Tofino. He was a lead organizer of the mass protests of Clayoquot Summer 1993. In his spare time, Dan likes to sing out loud while sea kayaking. Clayoquot Action is a Tofino-based conservation society committed to protecting the biocultural diversity of Clayoquot Sound. Their goals are accomplished through public education, citizen research and monitoring, and advocacy. Clayoquot Action stands for democratic rights, indigenous rights and the rights of Mother Earth.

VANESSA MINKE-MARTIN: Big fish eat little fish: How important are herring to salmon in the Salish Sea?

Vanessa Minke-Martin is a fish ecologist, science writer and environmentalist who has worked on fisheries management issues in the non-profit sector, government and academia. Most recently, at Pacific Wild, she led strategic campaigns to increase protection for Pacific herring and marine ecosystems on the B.C. coast. Vanessa has an M.Sc. in salmon ecology from the University of British Columbia, where she studied the behaviour of Fraser sockeye in watersheds affected by hydroelectric development, a post-graduate certificate in Environmental Visual Communication (Fleming College), and a joint honours in Knowledge Integration and Biology (University of Waterloo).

IAN MCALLISTER: Discusses the strength of photography in communicating the importance of conservation

Ian is a co-founder of the wildlife conservation organization Pacific Wild. He is an award-winning photographer, IMAX Director, and author of 11 books. He is a fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers and the Royal Canadian Geographic Society and a recipient of the North America Nature Photography Association’s Vision Award and the Rainforest Action Network’s Rainforest Hero award. He was named by Time magazine as a “Leader of the 21st Century” for efforts to protect the temperate rainforests of the Pacific northwest. He and his organization have been huge supporters of our fight to save the herring.

BRIONY PENN: Discusses the importance of story-telling as an aspect of conservation

Briony Penn is an award-winning writer, naturalist, and educator who has been advocating for herring since they disappeared from Fulford Harbour, where she lives, after the industrial fisheries of the early 80s. Her bestseller Year on the Wild Side continues to inspire a new generation to stay grounded and connected to the coast. Her collaboration with Xenaksiala elder Cecil Paul in Stories from the Magic Canoe of Wa’xaid was picked as one of the top ten most hopeful books of 2020. She is in her 30th year of writing a natural history column and features on environmental issues.

DR. JOSEPH K. GAYDOS: Herring and Whales in the Salish Sea

Joe Gaydos is a wildlife veterinarian and Chief Scientist for the SeaDoc Society. For nearly two decades he has been working to improve the health of the Salish Sea through science and education. SeaDoc is a science-based marine conservation program of the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center. They fund and conduct research and use the information to improve policy and management of the Salish Sea’s living resources.

DR. DANIEL PAULY: How fisheries and global warming impact the marine ecosystems in the world and in B.C.

Daniel Pauly is a French-born marine biologist, well known for his work in studying human impacts on global fisheries. He is the world’s leading fisheries scientist, a professor and the project leader of the Sea Around Us Project at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at the University of British Columbia. His work has been profiled in outlets such as Science, Nature, and the New York Times, and he has been recognized with numerous awards, including a fellowship with the Royal Society of Canada. His new book, Vanishing Fish: "Shifting Baselines" and the "Future of Global Fisheries" offers a thought-provoking look at the state of today’s global fisheries—and a radical way to turn it around

Q&A WITH HERRING EXPERTS: Panel Discussion: Where do we go from here?

As part of HerringFest, we brought in herring experts to teach you everything you need to know about herring conservation. In this episode, the herring experts answer questions from the audience about the issues facing herring today.

videography: Taylor Clayton, krakenmedia.ca for CHI / post production: Rebecca Carey, CHI