KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
A late start to the Kodiak sac roe herring fishery will leave about a thousand tons unharvested.
A late start to the Kodiak sac roe herring fishery will leave about a thousand tons unharvested. James Jackson is the area biologist for Fish and Game in Kodiak.
"I’d say the majority of the fish have been harvested. I think we’re sitting at about 4,200 tons that we’ve taken so far. The GHL is a little over 5,300. So, the only place that’s left to catch fish is Alitak and given as late as the fish have been this year, I imagine they’re not going to catch too much down there because they’ll probably switch over to salmon, but it’s pretty much wrapped up.
Jackson says the catch has been best in the usual places: Uganik, Danger Bay, Ugak Bay and further south.
"It was a little odd in this year in that on the east side of Kodiak we typically have some fish that spawn before the fishery ever opens. The fishery opens on April 15th and usually somewhere between the 5th to the10th we have a lot of spawn on the east side of Kodiak and this year we actually got to harvest some of those fish because everything was so late. That’s about the only oddity for this year."
The roe percentage, Jackson says, has mostly been above 10 percent.
