Steps to understand the decline, and aid in recovery for Cherry Point herring

The Cherry Point herring were once the largest and most prolific herring population of the 18 herring stocks in Washington’s Salish Sea waters. Since the 1973 spawning surveys, the Cherry Point herring stock has plummeted from nearly 15,000 metric tons to a low of 372 tons in 2017. Cherry Point (CP) herring are genetically distinct from other stocks in the Salish Sea, have a unique spawning time - later in spring than other regional stocks, and add a unique biodiversity component to the Salish Sea ecosystem. Concerned scientists, natural resource managers and local environmentalists are investigating the reasons for their decline and actions that will support their recovery. In addition to the precipitous drop in CP spawning population, spawning areas for CP herring have gradually diminished and shifted northward. In the 1990’s when further development along the CP Reach appeared inevitable, concern arose that the limited remaining habitat areas used for spawning around CP needed protection. As a result, Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) established the Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve in 2000. A priority management action for the reserve is to determine the present status of the CP herring population and investigate potential causes for the species decline. In 2016, DNR contracted Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife to gillnet throughout the spawning season targeting shallow areas with verified herring spawning activity. The findings from two seasons of gillnetting established the effectiveness of the methods in collecting actively spawning fish and the spawning area retracted to only the northern portion of the historic spawning grounds. Genetic work verified that the herring caught are CP stock. Age class and structure showed changes vs. 30 years of historical data, with an increase in spawning age to 4-5-year old fish, and a more normal age distribution including 8-year old fish