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A B.C. conservationist says artificial herring-spawning nets installed in Vancouver have brought remarkable results this year.

Six years ago, Jonn Matsen of the Squamish Streamkeepers Society and his group hung 2.8-square-metre, artificial spawning nets from Fisherman’s Wharf in False Creek, after seeing dead herring eggs attached to the creosote-soaked pilings that had taken place of local eelgrass beds when the dock was built.

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In January of this year, 300 million of the plankton-feeding fish hatched and in February, another 300 million hatched from a second wave of spawning.

“We thought that would be the end of it, but we got 700 million eggs in March and there was still a school of herring looking to spawn yesterday,” said Matsen, shortly after inspecting the nets on Saturday.

“This is a ‘billion year’ for us and the growth is beyond our expectation. We thought we wouldn’t have a billion for a couple more years.”