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MCC response to the 2024 Herring IFMP

ByPacific Marine Conservation Caucus
Herring spawn in Bain Sound, Strait of Georgia

In our previous letter for the proposed 2023/2024 Food & Bait and Special Use fisheries, we provided the rationale for a closure of commercial herring fisheries in Area 17, a cap on the proportion of the Strait of Georgia (SoG) Total Allowable Catch (TAC) that is allocated to the Food & Bait fishery, and a maximum 7% harvest rate for SoG fisheries overall. For the full IFMP, we reiterate these recommendations, and for all other regions in which commercial harvest is being considered, we urge DFO to prioritize caution in harvest options, due to both the uncertainty in recent abundance estimates as well as in recognition of the recent shift from several years of herring-friendly La Nina conditions to the historically herring unfriendly conditions of El Nino.

MCC-Letter-to-DFO-Re-herring-2024-IFMPDownload

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