Commercial seine fishermen entered the seventh consecutive day of the sac roe herring fishery today in the same northern area of Sitka Sound that has been the center of harvest this week.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game opened today's fishing at 9 a..m. in Hayward Strait and south Krestof Sound, around the Magoun Islands. The fishery area was set to remain open today until further notice. 

Seiners harvested 857 tons of herring in the greater Hayward Strait area Thursday, for a total of roughly 4,607 tons for the season to date, according to ADF&G Area Management Biologist Aaron Dupuis.

Fishing could shift south of town soon, Fish and Game said in a 10:30 a.m. radio update over VHF channel 10. 

“If it looks like opportunity is drying up in the (Hayward/Krestof) fishery today, we’ll be looking to move south for the day,” the agency said in the mid-morning report.

A float plane survey this morning showed a total of about 25 nautical miles of herring spawn, up from the 18 miles seen yesterday.

Spawn appeared today as far south as Taigud Island, in front of Redoubt Bay, and aerial surveyors also saw schools of herring in the Redoubt / Kidney Cove area. 

Near the northern fishery area, “spawn was expanding around Kresta Point and into Promisla Bay and a little bit by Point Brown,” F&G said today. 

“And then we had spawn expand around Middle Island and Crow Island today, and then we’re seeing spawn south of the (O’Connell) Bridge on the islands just south of the causeway,” F&G said.

As of 10:30 a.m., department personnel on the vessel Eric C. were “sounding around Aleutkina Bay, Deep Inlet, and … making our way by Cape Burunof,” where they noticed “some scattered schools throughout that area.”

F&G sampled one test set in Samsing Cove on Thursday afternoon, which turned up herring with an average weight of 164 grams and a 9.9 percent mature roe content. Fishery managers said in a 4 p.m. update Thursday that the sample could have been skewed by a high proportion of male fish in the test set. 

The next fishery updates are expected at 4 p.m. today on VHF channel 10 and on F&G's website.