Description
Herring and Bladderwrack
Along the BC coast there lives a small, silver fish. This #littlebigfish plays a vital role in the food chain of our coastal ecosystem. It’s the Pacific Herring, Clupea pallasii. They can be found from California all the way north to Alaska and the Bering Sea, and south again to Japan. But the power of this fish comes not only from it’s numbers – they form huge schools with impressive biomass. Even more so it is from the millions of tiny eggs and milk released during a spawn.
The importance of herring and their spawn is something the First Nations of the Northwest Coast have known for millenia. It was back in 2009 when I was fortunate to participate in a joint research program between the Tla’amin First Nation and Simon Fraser University. Most notably we were looking to bridge oral histories with zoological and archaeological evidence for herring fisheries on the coast. The result was clear. Over the past 7,000 years in Tla’amin, and over 10,000 years elsewhere on the coast, herring was abundant. Certainly they played a vital role in the ecosystem and the diets of the peoples who live here.
Herring live a long time, a very long time, for such a small fish. Adults live on average 10 years and perhaps up to 20, and return to their native waters to spawn every year. Spawning takes place in shallow, sheltered bays and estuaries where females might lay up to 20,000 eggs each. Preferred spawning materials include eelgrass (Zostera), bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) and bladderwrack (Fucus). Each year, usually in March, the shallow waters of British Columbia are said to turn white with spawn. Or at least they used to… I have lived on this coast for 35 years (25 of those on Indian Arm and 7 on Bowen Island, both known for supporting pre-historical herring populations) and have yet to witness this great event. Certainly the herring and their life cycle is a critical foundation for many animals on the coast. Most noteworthy sea birds, humpback whales, chinook salmon, black bears and sea wolves, to name a few.
Current Status
Commercial fishing of herring in British Columbia began in 1877. Due to over-exploitation herring fisheries up the down the coast have collapsed. Georgia Straight remains the only one out of five BC populations that is relatively healthy and still open to industrial collection. 20% of Georgia Straight’s herring are harvested annually using gill nets for “kazunoko” roe bound for Japanese markets; the rest is turned into fish meal to feed pets and farmed salmon. Because of this method of collecting the roe adult fish are caught prior to spawn. DFO’s assessment of what constitutes a healthy herring fishery looks to be based on 1950’s data and we know that population levels were already depleted at that time. In contrast to this data my own experience of pulling ancient herring bones out of the ground confirms what the coastal First Nations have always known. Herring was once far, far, far more abundant than it is now.
Cards are $5 each or 5 for 20
- Printed on high quality card stock
- Blank inside with envelope included
- All original prints
- Made in Canada
Matted Prints are standard sizes in a double white mat $45
- Giclees printed on archival cotton fine art paper
- Acid, lignin and chlorine free
- High quality Epson inks
- Double mat fits standard frame sizes
- Made in Canada
Canvas Prints – various sizes and prices
- Archival cotton canvas Giclee prints stretched over 1.5″ wide wooden stretcher bars
- Additional coating of museum grade protective UV varnish
- Basis Weight: 430 gsm, Material: Cotton, Surface Finish: Satin, Thickness: 23 mil
- Certificate of Authenticity
- Edition limited to 150 prints
- Signed by the artist and embellished with fresh paint
- Wired and ready to hang
- Printed in Vancouver, BC to the highest modern printing standards
- Made in Canada
- *Please note: canvas giclees are made-to-order and ready in approximately 2 weeks*
Additional information
| Media | Canvas Print, Matted Print |
|---|---|
| Size | 12" x 12", 16" x 16", 20" x 20", 24" x 24", 30" x 30", 36" x 36", 40" x 40", 5.25" x 5.25", 8" x 8" print in 12" x 12" mat |
Along the BC coast there lives a small, silver fish. This #littlebigfish plays a vital role in the food chain of our coastal ecosystem. It’s the Pacific Herring, Clupea pallasii. They can be found from California all the way north to Alaska and the Bering Sea, and south again to Japan. But the power of this fish comes not only from it’s numbers – they form huge schools with impressive biomass. Even more so it is from the millions of tiny eggs and milk released during a spawn.
The importance of herring and their spawn is something the First Nations of the Northwest Coast have known for millenia. Certainly they played a vital role in the ecosystem and the diets of the peoples who live here.
Original painting ‘Herring and Bladderwrack’ – 12”x12” – 2019 – acrylic on canvas (sold)
Description
Herring and Bladderwrack
Along the BC coast there lives a small, silver fish. This #littlebigfish plays a vital role in the food chain of our coastal ecosystem. It’s the Pacific Herring, Clupea pallasii. They can be found from California all the way north to Alaska and the Bering Sea, and south again to Japan. But the power of this fish comes not only from it’s numbers – they form huge schools with impressive biomass. Even more so it is from the millions of tiny eggs and milk released during a spawn.
The importance of herring and their spawn is something the First Nations of the Northwest Coast have known for millenia. It was back in 2009 when I was fortunate to participate in a joint research program between the Tla’amin First Nation and Simon Fraser University. Most notably we were looking to bridge oral histories with zoological and archaeological evidence for herring fisheries on the coast. The result was clear. Over the past 7,000 years in Tla’amin, and over 10,000 years elsewhere on the coast, herring was abundant. Certainly they played a vital role in the ecosystem and the diets of the peoples who live here.
Herring live a long time, a very long time, for such a small fish. Adults live on average 10 years and perhaps up to 20, and return to their native waters to spawn every year. Spawning takes place in shallow, sheltered bays and estuaries where females might lay up to 20,000 eggs each. Preferred spawning materials include eelgrass (Zostera), bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) and bladderwrack (Fucus). Each year, usually in March, the shallow waters of British Columbia are said to turn white with spawn. Or at least they used to… I have lived on this coast for 35 years (25 of those on Indian Arm and 7 on Bowen Island, both known for supporting pre-historical herring populations) and have yet to witness this great event. Certainly the herring and their life cycle is a critical foundation for many animals on the coast. Most noteworthy sea birds, humpback whales, chinook salmon, black bears and sea wolves, to name a few.
Current Status
Commercial fishing of herring in British Columbia began in 1877. Due to over-exploitation herring fisheries up the down the coast have collapsed. Georgia Straight remains the only one out of five BC populations that is relatively healthy and still open to industrial collection. 20% of Georgia Straight’s herring are harvested annually using gill nets for “kazunoko” roe bound for Japanese markets; the rest is turned into fish meal to feed pets and farmed salmon. Because of this method of collecting the roe adult fish are caught prior to spawn. DFO’s assessment of what constitutes a healthy herring fishery looks to be based on 1950’s data and we know that population levels were already depleted at that time. In contrast to this data my own experience of pulling ancient herring bones out of the ground confirms what the coastal First Nations have always known. Herring was once far, far, far more abundant than it is now.
Cards are $5 each or 5 for 20
- Printed on high quality card stock
- Blank inside with envelope included
- All original prints
- Made in Canada
Matted Prints are standard sizes in a double white mat $45
- Giclees printed on archival cotton fine art paper
- Acid, lignin and chlorine free
- High quality Epson inks
- Double mat fits standard frame sizes
- Made in Canada
Canvas Prints – various sizes and prices
- Archival cotton canvas Giclee prints stretched over 1.5″ wide wooden stretcher bars
- Additional coating of museum grade protective UV varnish
- Basis Weight: 430 gsm, Material: Cotton, Surface Finish: Satin, Thickness: 23 mil
- Certificate of Authenticity
- Edition limited to 150 prints
- Signed by the artist and embellished with fresh paint
- Wired and ready to hang
- Printed in Vancouver, BC to the highest modern printing standards
- Made in Canada
- *Please note: canvas giclees are made-to-order and ready in approximately 2 weeks*
Additional information
| Media | Canvas Print, Matted Print |
|---|---|
| Size | 12" x 12", 16" x 16", 20" x 20", 24" x 24", 30" x 30", 36" x 36", 40" x 40", 5.25" x 5.25", 8" x 8" print in 12" x 12" mat |
