By KLAS STOLPE and
SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writers
Test fishing was under way today in southern Sitka Sound to determine whether weight and roe content of the herring stocks in that area meet the minimums for the first opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game fishery manager said this morning.
“We are transitioning from the north to the south,” area management biologist Eric Coonradt said at 10:30 a.m.
He enlisted the help of seiners near Sitka to investigate Eastern Channel, and at 2 p.m. today reported that a 100-ton test set at Deep Inlet had herring that were 96 gram average, 10.7 percent mature roe, and 51.6 percent female. Other boats were checking Thimbleberry Bay and Jamestown Bay, but at press time there was no information on whether an opening was in prospect for today.
Coonradt has said the target for an opening is 110-gram fish and 11 percent mature roe. He said early-morning aerial and boat surveys in the northern part of Sitka Sound were not showing the large volumes of fish or predators that had been seen in the waters of the Inner Point, Eastern Bay, Promisla Bay and Krestof Sound areas on Monday.
“Looking on the horizon to the south, we saw an incredible number of whales, kind of south of Vitskari Rocks going toward Six-Mile Rocks,” he said.
Louise Brady, left, drums as Lillian Young and other protesters sing a Tlingit herring song Monday at the Department of Fish and Game office in the Sitka Courthouse. The group is concerned about the commercial sac roe herring fishery and the strength of herring stocks in Sitka Sound. They want to be sure there is enough herring spawn to meet subsistence needs. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
Spotter pilots reported a large volume of fish moving into Redoubt Bay, Silver Bay, Deep Inlet and the Eastern Channel corridor areas.
Aerial surveys also showed large numbers of predators moving from north to south in the morning, and all in the south at 11 a.m.
“As soon as we got into the trench, kind of off the airport, we started running into a pretty significant volume of fish,” Coonradt said. “What we are seeing down here is pretty impressive.”
The test fishing boats that were in the northern part of the sound this morning began transitioning south, and as of 11 a.m. there were no test sets on the fish in the lower sound.
Whether there will be an opening today “will depend on whether we can get down there in time to access and get some samples,” Coonradt said. “It really depends on the samples. As soon as we get people into position we are hoping to get a net in the water. We will at least be in place to start figuring out what is out there.”
From the air, he said, “it looks like there is a tremendous amount of fish.”
ADF&G said Monday’s aerial survey showed no herring or herring spawn due to poor visibility, but a high concentration of herring predators was observed between Bieli Rocks, Inner Point, and Hayward Strait.
A survey in northern Sitka Sound by the department’s boat R/V Kestrel showed several schools of herring in southern Krestof Sound. Herring spotted Sunday in shallower waters off Kruzof Island and in Siginaka Islands and Eastern Bay had returned to deeper waters west of Bieli Rocks, Fish and Game said.
Test sets Monday included the F/V Infinite Legacy in Southern Krestof of 150 tons, 11.9 percent mature roe, 0.5 percent immature roe, 100 gram average weight, and 50.7 percent female; the F/V Emily Nichole at Double Island had a 2-ton set with 11.9 percent mature roe, 0.5 percent immature roe, 106 gram average, and 50.2 percent female; and the F/V Infinite Legacy at Mills Island had a 150-ton set, with 10.2 percent mature roe, 0.93 percent immature roe, 96 gram average, and 46.8 percent female.
