Citizen science is helping restore herring populations in B.C.’s Howe Sound

Now in its fourth year, this citizen science project is tracking the herring (Slhawt’) that return from the open ocean in February and begin spawning. The non-profit group’s work is meant not only to benefit people but the sea creatures and water here in the southernmost fjord in North America. None of the participants on the boat has a formal science background, but they’re paid by the Marine Stewardship Initiative to collect data about the number and conditions of herring spawn in the sound. Their work contributes to the data being analyzed by the MSI as part of a larger effort to restore and protect this aquatic environment.