By Sentinel Staff
The rate of herring spawning around Sitka Sound slowed over the weekend and the commercial sac roe fishery didn’t open Saturday or Sunday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports.
On Sunday the agency noted 6.6 nautical miles of new spawn on beaches in the Sitka Sound management area, mostly in the vicinity of Goddard Hot Springs, though some occurred on the southern end of Middle Island. Only 1.7 nautical miles of new spawn was observed on Saturday. So far this season, herring have laid their eggs on 64.8 nautical miles of beaches around the sound.
Out of four test sets conducted over the weekend, only one pulled in fish with more than 10 percent mature roe, a benchmark for commercial harvest. That set took place in Big Bay, immediately south of Goddard Hot Springs on Saturday; other sets were conducted in Dorothy Narrows and near Golf Island but did not yield marketable fish.
On Friday fishing was opened at two locations around Goddard. One was 9:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. just north of the hot springs, and later in the afternoon from 4 to 7 p.m. in Windy Passage, just south of Dorothy Narrows.
Total catch for the two openings was about 1,600 tons of herring, Fish and Game said, bringing the season total to 10,900 tons out of a guideline harvest level of 30,124 tons.
The department planned to continue herring surveys today.
