Seabird predation of Pacific Herring, Clupea pallasi, spawn in British Columbia

Haegele, C. W. 1993.Seabird predation of Pacific Herring, Clupea pallasi, spawn in British Columbia.Canadian Field-Naturalist 107(1): 73-82.The abundance of seabirds and their impact on Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasi) eggs was estimated for the largest herring stock, of approximately 25 000 tonnes, in the Strait of Georgia.Maximum number of birds was 50 407 in 1989 and 61 378 in 1990.I estimated that seabirds consumed 3.1% and 3.8% of the spawn deposited in 1989 and 1990.Gulls, scoters, and other ducks were the main predators.Seabirds may remove most of the eggs when herring stocks are low, and most of the eggs from spatially or temporally isolated spawns even when herring stocks are not low.