By Sentinel Staff
For the third day in a row, an opening was held in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery Thursday, this time in waters well to the north of Sitka at St. John Baptist Bay, Sukoi Inlet, and the southern part of Salisbury Sound, the Department of Fish and Game announced Thursday evening. Fishing started at 1:30 p.m. and closed at 6 p.m.
The fishery opened on the heels of two test sets in the area Thursday morning. The first, at St. John Baptist Bay, netted 11.3 percent mature roe, 1.1 percent immature roe, and 49 percent female fish weighing an average of 150 grams.
In Gilmer Cove, on the east side of Partofshikof Island, the second test set caught fish with 12.7 percent mature roe and 1.3 percent immature roe. Those herring were 55.7 percent female and weighed, on average, 156 grams, Fish and Game said.
The catch in Wednesday’s fishing near Inner Point on Kruzof Island totaled 560 tons, bringing the cumulative harvest to 1,210 tons of sac roe herring so far out of a season guideline harvest level of 30,124 tons.
Fish and Game said herring continued to spawn on the beaches of southern and southeastern Kruzof Island Thursday, though spawn has yet to occur elsewhere in the Sitka Sound management area. Department surveys have reported 11.6 nautical miles of spawn in total.
“There is no set rule for how long the fishery will go once spawning starts. But the clock is ticking for sure,” F&G management biologist Aaron Dupuis told the Sentinel by text.
The agency planned additional herring surveys today.
A map of Sitka Sound shows areas where herring have spawned and schooled-up in recent days. (Image from Googlemaps)
