Conducting stock assessments of puget sound pacific herring(clupea pallasii) provides essential information about the abundance of this species.herringare important as prey for numerous species…

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, awarded a Formula Grant of $629,852 to the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) under the State Wildlife Grants (SWG) Program (CFDA 15.634) on October 1, 2025, with a completion date of September 30, 2028. The award funds comprehensive stock assessments of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) populations in Puget Sound and the Southern Salish Sea. This work provides essential abundance data for a forage fish species critical to the food web, particularly for endangered species including Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca), while also supporting commercial and recreational fisheries management and administration of the state's hydraulic project approval authority.

In addition to herring assessments, this project delivers annual monitoring and management data on spawning distribution and timing to update critical habitat maps. The funded activities also support broader forage fish management initiatives for surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus) and Northern anchovy (Engraulis mordax), both subject to harvest regulations. These monitoring and assessment services directly advance the State Wildlife Grants Program's core objective of providing strategic, proactive conservation information to prevent species decline and inform wildlife management decisions at the state and federal level.

Conducting stock assessments of puget sound pacific herring(clupea pallasii) provides essential information about the abundance of this species.herringare important as prey for numerous species including ESA listed chinook salmon (oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and southern resident killer whales(orcinus orca) and support commercial and recreational fisheries. The continuance of herring stock assessments in puget sound(southern salish sea)is dependent on the funding described in this proposal. This project also provides annual information about herring spawning distribution and timing allowing US to provide updates to maps of critical habitat which are used in administration of the states hydraulic project approval authority. Additionally, this project helps to support monitoring and management of other important forage fish species, including surf smelt (hypomesuspretiosus) andnorthern anchovy (engraulis mordax) which are also subject to both commercial and recreational harvest.