By Sentinel Staff
The Department of Fish and Game continued measuring miles of herring spawn in Sitka Sound over the weekend.
Although processors have said they don’t plan to participate in a commercial herring sac roe fishery this year, F&G is continuing to collect data that biologists say is important in the ongoing management of the herring stocks.
Some 3.9 nautical miles of spawn was measured in Sunday’s aerial survey, on the Kruzof Island shoreline, said Aaron Dupuis, area management biologist for Fish and Game.
Most of the spawn sighted in Sunday’s aerial survey was from Lava Island to Fred’s Creek, with small areas of spawn near Brent’s Beach on Kruzof Island, and Eastern Bay, on Krestof Island.
“Numerous schools of herring were seen in north Krestof Sound,” Dupuis said.
At press time today, Dupuis said spawn on Kruzof was generally “winding down” while spawn in Eastern Bay was expanding. Dupuis was still calculating the spawn mileage for today at press time.
Most of the herring returning this year (some 83 percent) are expected to be age 4, which is generally considered below marketable size. However, the returning biomass is expected to be one of the largest in the history of the fishery, Fish & Game said. Small fish size and market disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have been cited as reasons for the processors’ decision to stand down.
