Canada: Dead Herring Wash Ashore On Second Beach In Cedar

Another beach in Cedar has been found covered with hundreds of dead herring that washed ashore.

The fish were found Monday near the beach house in Cedar-By-The-Sea, a short distance from the beach north of Boat Harbour where Will Meeks found a large number of dead herring on Friday.

Brenda Spence, a spokeswoman for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, speculated early Monday — before the latest discovery — that sea lions eating through nets used in the food and bait herring fishery in the Georgia Strait was the likely cause of the first incident.

She said fishermen involved in the small fishery reported problems with “mammal predation” on their nets late last week.

Spence said some fishing boats had holes cut in their nets, with sea lions the probable culprits, which allowed herring to be released near Cedar. She speculated that this was the cause of the dead herring found Friday.

Commercial herring fisherman Paul Kershaw said it’s likely both incidents are connected to the ongoing food and bait fishery.

“Having fish die in the catching process is a part of all commercial fisheries and we’re speculating that this is the most likely cause because of the proximity of herring boats to Cedar at the time, with some reporting problems with sea lions,” Spence said.

Robert Barron, Postmedia News
Published: Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Source: Times Colonist

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