08/20/2026
A commentary by a Halifax-based Marine Scientist at Oceana Canada specializing in sustainable fisheries management and marine conservation.
As of this year, all five major Pacific herring stocks are under legally binding sustainability and rebuilding provisions in the Fisheries Act.
On the Atlantic coast, the southwest Nova Scotia, and Bay of Fundy herring stock — which Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)’s own science places firmly in the critical zone — remains outside the act’s rebuilding protections. One national law, two very different levels of accountability.
The disparity matters because of what’s at stake. In 2024, forage fish such as herring, eulachon, and sardines made up less than two per cent of the country’s total landed value of wild fish.
Yet they feed, or provide bait for, commercial species including wild salmon, lobster, and crab — fisheries with landings worth nearly $3 billion, or roughly 70 per cent of landed value. Their direct market value captures only a fraction of what they contribute to Canada’s oceans and coastal economies.
These small fish rarely capture public attention, but healthy oceans depend on them. They transfer energy from plankton to whales, seabirds, salmon and countless other species, making them one of the foundations of the marine food web.
When forage fish decline, the effects ripple throughout the ecosystem, ultimately affecting the wildlife, fisheries and communities that rely on healthy oceans. When they thrive, so do the species, cultures, and coastal communities that depend on them — including Indigenous food, cultural and ceremonial fisheries, and commercial spawn-on-kelp fisheries.
Haida Gwaii herring set an important precedent by being the first Pacific herring stock legally protected in 2022.
The stock is now managed under a rebuilding plan approved in 2024 that was co-developed by the Council of the Haida Nation, DFO, and Parks Canada — bringing Haida traditional knowledge, values and governance together with fisheries science in an ecosystem-based approach.
In June, the federal government brought four more Pacific herring stocks under the Fish Stocks provisions. These stocks don’t currently require rebuilding plans as they are not deemed to be critically depleted, but DFO must now manage them to maintain populations at sustainable levels — an opportunity to modernize fisheries management with those who rely on these fish most.
Six depleted forage fish populations in Atlantic Canada are still waiting for this same protection.
The most glaring case is the southwest Nova Scotia and Bay of Fundy herring stock, which DFO’s own science states has been critically depleted for almost a decade, fished under a quota of 20,000 tonnes — heavier than 1,000 city buses.
DFO has been working on a rebuilding plan, but because the stock remains outside the Fish Stocks provisions, completing and implementing it remains a matter of policy and ministerial discretion, not a statutory requirement.
Canada has shown what stronger legal accountability for forage fish looks like: legal listing, sustainable management, and, where required, rebuilding plans developed with the people who depend on these fish most.
Safeguarding forage fish is the foundation of every thriving marine ecosystem and coastal economy from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador.
The path forward is already visible on Canada’s West Coast. With new protections in place for Pacific herring, we’re finally seeing what’s possible when science and local knowledge guide fisheries management.
The federal government has finally protected Pacific herring and now must deliver the same standard across the country by extending protections to all forage fish populations.
