By Sentinel Staff
The second opening of the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Wednesday near Inner Point on Kruzof Island. Fishing commenced at 11:45 a.m. and was closed after one hour.
The weight of the catch wasn’t known as of press time.
The fishing area was on the opposite side of Sitka Sound from the Tuesday opening around Aleutkina Bay and Deep Inlet. Tuesday’s catch totaled 650 tons, the Fish and Game Department said.
Two test sets conducted near Inner Point Wednesday morning caught herring with just over 11 percent mature roe and about one percent immature roe, F&G fishery managers said.
Department and industry surveys noticed “several very large schools of herring… located on sonar near Inner Point and near Peisar Island. Numerous other schools of herring were observed from Harbor Point to Middle Island.”
With additional spawn observed on Kruzof beaches around Fred’s Creek Wednesday, the total spawn for the season is now 11.1 miles. “While there was herring spawn observed near Fred’s Creek today, there were no known subsistence branch sets in that area,” Wednesday’s report from Fish and Game said.
