Alaska’s largest herring fishery is essentially over despite that fact that the fishery is open until further notice. The total harvest in this year’s Togiak sac-roe herring fishery is over 24-thousand tons, which is still short of the 27.8-thousand ton quota available to fishermen. Tim Sands is the ADF&G Area Management Biologist in charge of the fishery. He believes that the vast majority of the fishing fleet has stopped fishing.
“As far as I know there are only 1 or 2 companies left buying. After today there will probably just be one company left.”
Because of confidentiality restrictions based on the limited number of processors still buying herring, Sands can’t release the harvest totals from Sunday’s fishing effort but fishermen are still apparently finding harvestable herring. However, it’s becoming more and more difficult every day. Sands says the 24-thousand tons of herring harvested through Sunday is a little more than the processors indicated that they wanted or needed during discussions with the Department of Fish and Game preseason. Currently the purse seine and gillnet fisheries are open until further notice but Sands says he will likely issue an emergency order closing the fishery once the final buyers pull out. The prevalent speculation is that the price will be down significantly from last year’s grounds price of $100-dollars a ton. However, KDLG News has not heard anything officially about this year’s price. Fishermen with price information to share can give KDLG a call at 842-5281 or send an email to mike@kdlg.org.