By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Smaller areas of herring spawn began appearing on beaches in town Wednesday, with biologists predicting some “exciting” days ahead as the spawn expands.
“We’ve got a ways to go,” said Aaron Dupuis, newly promoted this week to the position of Fish and Game’s area management biologist. “I think it will keep going for awhile ... It’s just getting started. It’ll be an exciting three, four days.”
Wednesday’s aerial survey covered the Sitka Sound area from Crawfish Inlet to Salisbury Sound.
Dupuis reported good conditions for the survey, with clear skies and light winds.
A total of 11.6 nautical miles of active herring spawn was seen on Kruzof Island south of Shelikof Bay to Fred’s Creek, near Brent’s Beach, and on Krestof Island from Rob Point to Eastern Bay.
Several smaller areas of spawn were observed closer to Sitka in the Apple Islands (on the north end of town) and near the Eliason Harbor breakwater.
At press time today, Dupuis said in the aerial survey he made today he measured another 12 nautical miles of spawn, in most of the same areas.
“It’s expanding on the Sitka road system and up in Hayward Strait,” he said.
The cumulative miles of herring spawn to date is approximately 20.4 nautical miles, Dupuis reported, following today’s morning aerial survey.
The returning biomass this year is expected to be one of the largest in the history of the fishery, at 212,330 tons. The guideline harvest level is 25,000 tons, although processors have told F&G they didn’t plan to participate. Some 83 percent of the herring are expected to be 4-year-olds and not a marketable size. Market disruption due to the coronavirus also has been cited by processors as a reason for not fishing.
