By Sentinel Staff
Openings in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery occurred around Goddard Hot Springs, south of town, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday and 11:15 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, the Department of Fish and Game said.
Seiners pulled in about 2,180 tons of herring Wednesday. Harvest figures for Thursday weren’t released as of press time today.
In about a week and a half of fishing, the fleet has caught roughly 7,200 tons this year out of a guideline harvest level of 30,124 tons.
Test sets conducted around north and south Calligan Islands – immediately north of Hot Springs Bay – on Wednesday netted fish with between 8.3 and 11.2 percent mature roe and between 0.2 and 0.8 percent immature roe. The department didn’t conduct test sets Thursday.
Over the last two days, agency surveys have sighted herring spawn on beaches in the Magoun and Siginaka Islands. All told, the fish have spawned on 57.7 nautical miles of beaches so far, including 17.1 nautical miles on beaches within areas closed to commercial fishing.
The department was to continue herring surveys today.
