Herring Rising

Protect Herring. Defend Indigenous Rights. Uphold Justice in the Salish Sea.

When relationships break down, systems fail.

Across the Salish Sea, Indigenous leaders are taking action to protect herring and defend the relationships that sustain these waters. The Herring Rising campaign supports the W̱SÁNEĆ Hereditary Chiefs in their efforts to restore balance through Indigenous leadership, legal action, and collective action for herring conservation.

Indigenous-led legal action is one of the most effective tools for change worldwide. Access to justice is a fundamental right, but changing systems takes determination, time, and collective effort. When Indigenous leaders take a stand to defend the web of life in the Salish Sea, they set a path forward for all of us. If herring are to be protected, and the systems that govern and care for the Salish Sea are to be repaired, it will take all of us showing up and doing our part, fiercely, and with love.

This path to change, while effective, often costs prohibitive amounts of money, meaning so many attempts to make the Salish Sea a better place struggle to gain momentum.

Will you stand with Indigenous leaders to protect herring and uphold justice in the Salish Sea?

Join a growing movement to protect herring, uphold Indigenous rights, and build a healthier future for the Salish Sea.

“Herring are not just a First Nations issue. Protecting herring is about restoring balance, not only for the ecosystems but for all who rely on the ocean for their livelihoods and well-being, and who care about the protection of species other than our own.” – WSÁNEĆ Hereditary Chief Eric Pelkey

The moment we’re in

Each spring, Pacific herring return to the Salish Sea in a magnificent, shimmering, spawning spectacle, one of the most captivating natural events in this inland sea. Transforming nearshore waters in shifting hues of life and renewal, this vivid pulse of life sets in motion a vital cycle of nourishment, as herring eggs and adults feed people, marine life, and terrestrial species across the region.

And yet, many herring populations are now a fraction of what they once were.

Despite clear warning signs, constant advocacy efforts, and strong Indigenous leadership, federal decisions continue to allow industrial fisheries to push these fragile populations even further towards collapse.

Let’s be clear: this is a failure of marine governance.

It’s a breakdown in how decisions are made about the Salish Sea: who has authority, whose knowledge counts, and, ultimately, what kind of future is being chosen for us. Herring populations are being pushed to the edge, as the W̱SÁNEĆ Hereditary Chiefs and many others have been saying for decades, while decisions continue to prioritize short term profit over long term sustainability.

“The Strait of Georgia is now the only one of the five major spawning areas along the B.C. coast still open to a herring fishery—four others were closed because the stocks collapsed. This decision further jeopardizes the health of our waters and our way of life.” – WSÁNEĆ Hereditary Chief Eric Pelkey

Why herring matter

Herring may be small, but in many important ways they hold the Salish Sea together, carrying energy from plankton through the food web to sustain salmon, orcas, people, and a whole host of other life.

The Salish Sea is built on relationships: when herring decline, salmon suffer, Southern Resident orcas struggle, and coastal communities feel the loss, revealing how deeply connected, and increasingly fragile, these relationships have become.

Up until very recently, these relationships caused abundance. Today, they are under incredible strain.

“Without the herring there can be no salmon, no seals, no killer whales as a result of no salmon. All these things all depend on herring to thrive.” – WSÁNEĆ Hereditary Chief Eric Pelkey

Rebuilding right relationships: W̱SÁNEĆ hereditary leadership and herring stewardship

The W̱SÁNEĆ people, since time immemorial, treated herring as kin. They formed an important part of their economy and are an integral part of diet and culture.

For the W̱SÁNEĆ Hereditary Chiefs, herring are relatives. This kinship comes with laws, protocol, and responsibilities that have guided their relationship with this species, and is part of a greater governance system that has sustained abundance and biodiversity across this ecosystem since time immemorial.

Protecting herring means rebuilding right relationship with the ecosystem, with marine governance, and with decision-making in the Salish Sea and beyond.

“Herring is part of the Lifeblood of the WSÁNEĆ People, and the absence of it is leading to a drastic decline in our health in general” – WSÁNEĆ Hereditary Chief Eric Pelkey

Stand with Indigenous leaders to protect herring: uphold justice in the Salish Sea

The Herring Rising campaign supports the W̱SÁNEĆ Hereditary Chiefs in protecting their relatives and holding the line for herring conservation. We are partnering with the Hereditary Chiefs as well as the Herring Conservation and Restoration Society to:

• Place a moratorium on the commercial herring fishery and allow the stocks to rebuild across their traditional spawning grounds
• Defend their Douglas Treaty “right to fish as formerly” and uphold Indigenous sovereignty in court
• Challenge harmful decisions that push herring populations further to the edge
• Increase the power of Indigenous leadership, sovereignty, and authority in marine governance
• Protect the ecological relationships that sustain the Salish Sea.

Indigenous sovereignty and stewardship are essential to restoring balance in the Salish Sea. Herring Rising shows us how.

By supporting the leadership, authority, and sovereignty of the W̱SÁNEĆ Hereditary Chiefs, we can take decisive action to protect herring, salmon, SRKW, and the entire ecosystem.

That’s where you come in.

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This campaign is part of our Indigenous Sovereignty & Stewardship work, which centers Indigenous leadership, knowledge, and stewardship in protecting the Salish Sea. Learn more >>

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