But it’s not just wildlife and ecosystems that benefit from a healthy number of herring. McKechnie and his fellow researchers found evidence to suggest that the fish has acted as a dietary staple for the people of Alaska and the west coast of Canada and the United Sates for generations. Herring continues to drive hundreds of local economies to this day.
“Pacific herring was a enduring feature of Indigenous economies over millennia —people found ways to access this fish despite potential fluctuations in overall numbers—yet today, many places that formerly had herring spawning have not had spawns for many years or decades,” McKechnie said. “Everywhere we looked (where we have suitable archaeological data), herring represent a large proportion of the fish people consumed.”
Pacific herring populations were damaged by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 and four years later the population unexpectedly collapsed to an all time low under the weight of overfishing in the North Pacific. In 1993, the Pacific herring harvest was 14 percent lower then the previous year. Numbers have been improving at a slow pace ever since. Some scientists attribute their slow recovery to an increase in ocean temperatures due to global warming, which is allowing a greater number of predators to move into the herring’s northern habitat.
Meanwhile, KcKechnie believes there is more information to be revealed from the bones, which may be of interest to conservationists, natural historians and fishing communities alike.
“These archives remain under-explored historical sources of ecological data,” he said. “Moreover, they often directly relate to animals that remain of high ecological and economic value.
“We know that ecosystems are dynamic and always in flux, but [we should] remind ourselves that looking backwards is often the best way to plan for the future.”
But it’s not just wildlife and ecosystems that benefit from a healthy number of herring. McKechnie and his fellow researchers found evidence to suggest that the fish has acted as a dietary staple for the people of Alaska and the west coast of Canada and the United Sates for generations. Herring continues to drive hundreds of local economies to this day.
“Pacific herring was a enduring feature of Indigenous economies over millennia —people found ways to access this fish despite potential fluctuations in overall numbers—yet today, many places that formerly had herring spawning have not had spawns for many years or decades,” McKechnie said. “Everywhere we looked (where we have suitable archaeological data), herring represent a large proportion of the fish people consumed.”
Pacific herring populations were damaged by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 and four years later the population unexpectedly collapsed to an all time low under the weight of overfishing in the North Pacific. In 1993, the Pacific herring harvest was 14 percent lower then the previous year. Numbers have been improving at a slow pace ever since. Some scientists attribute their slow recovery to an increase in ocean temperatures due to global warming, which is allowing a greater number of predators to move into the herring’s northern habitat.
Meanwhile, KcKechnie believes there is more information to be revealed from the bones, which may be of interest to conservationists, natural historians and fishing communities alike.
“These archives remain under-explored historical sources of ecological data,” he said. “Moreover, they often directly relate to animals that remain of high ecological and economic value.
“We know that ecosystems are dynamic and always in flux, but [we should] remind ourselves that looking backwards is often the best way to plan for the future.”
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