Herring
Thorne Isl.
2013-04-17 04:07:21
Salty
2013-04-17 06:06:30
Good reads, thank you. As a long time marine conservationist who joined the Sitka AC back in 76 because I was concerned about herring, I am always interested in herring studies and opinions about herring management. I fondly remember my dad's efforts to curtail the summer reduction fishery in the late 50's and early 60's.
As secretary of the Sitka AC in 1977 I wrote up the proposal to establish a minimum estimated biomass threshold below which there would not be a sac roe fishery in Sitka. When the BOF adopted that proposal it became a model for herring fisheries across the state.
After observing herring spawning activity near Sitka this week and catching a very large very ripe herring today I called ADF&G and visited with two managers for the better part of an hour. Interesting discussion which left me amazed at both how little I know about herring even after all these years of meetings compared to the dept. And how little any of us really know about the mysteries of our marine ecosystems. I served with Mr Baines on the Sitka AC so I am a bit surprised at the tone of his letter toward the BOF and Dept. he was always a soft spoken gentleman at the meetings I was at with him.
Here is my thinking on this issue and why I voted against the proposal? Please tell me why salmon or many other fish and shellfish aren't "forage fish"? Why should herring receive more attention than salmon, shrimp, or squid as a forage fish?
Trnaround
2013-04-17 13:38:37
Someone once said "common sense just ain't very common any more" and I think that describes the herring fishery. Taking that amount of mass out of the ocean every year has an impact period. It is a big impact, look around you. Is there as many herring as there was 20 years ago? No! You don't have to be a scientist to see it. Here's the progression, failing and declining, sustainable, abundant and finally overly abundant. Why is it we need to manage on the line between failing and sustainable? The managers are doing a great job teetering on the edge, yes. Is this all we expect? And stand back for a second and think, is the herring fishery solving world hunger? Sucking the life out of the ocean for someone's superstitions and net gain for (pun intended) some high rollers (another one) just doesn't make a whole lot of sense common or not.
Trnaround
2013-04-17 15:07:25
Note: superstitions I'm not talking about native traditions and sustenance which are very respectful of the environment by taking only the roe and not destroying the spawning herring which will spawn again.
Salty
2013-04-17 16:02:56
In northern SE one of the biggest changes in the marine ecosystem that I see is the rebuilt herring abundance compared to the 70's. When I moved to Sitka in 76 we had less than 10 miles of spawn and an estimated biomass of less than 7,000 tons. So far this year we have over 50 miles and spawning still going on.
The size of the herring harvested were over 200 grams. Huge herring.
The forage fish that had declined in Sitka was sand lance. But, we had a good year class last year.
The other big change is the marine mammal abundance.
I agree with the need for vigilance on conserving herring and fondly value my roll in fighting to keep the trawlers from keeping herring years ago.
I post my thoughts on herring, even though they might not be popular on the trollers forum because they reflect one troller, who cares deeply about the herring resource.
carojae
2013-04-17 18:22:13
Strange bed-fellow indeed Eric. No problem here.
Sitka may be doing well concerning herring stocks but there are some real devastation in other northern areas such as Lynn canal, icy straits, lisianski inlet, Tenakee(?), Port Frederick and so on.
Just sayin.
Jim
Salty
2013-04-17 21:29:09
Part of the history on Lynn Canal is that fish and game caved in to Political pressure and allowed a fishery in the 70's when they should not have. In Sitka James Parker, the area management biologist, stood up to political heat and refused to allow a fishery when the threshold, estimated by acoustic soundings then, was not met.
When I traveled down Chatham a couple of years ago there were lots of herring and whales from Augusta to Freshwater. Seems like when I was fishing coho in the Adolphus area a couple of years ago there was pretty good herring, but those were just momentary glimpses.
I don't think there has been a commercial sac roe herring fishery of any kind north of Seymour/Tenakee in SE since the 70's.
One of the things I would like to see, and I was hoping Behm Canal might be the spot, is a herring protected area, to serve as a sort of control to compare it over time with areas that are fished in the bait, roe on kelp, sac roe gillnet or seine fisheries.
I like the idea of open roe on kelp pounding for herring as it allows the fish to swim away, utilizes the milt, kelp, and some seawater absorption into the product. Many of the seiners in Sitka favored converting to that type of fishery here but they didn't receive any support from the community and tribe. Plus the closed pounders in other parts of SE like Hoonah Sound, opposed it as they were worried it might hurt their markets.
I sure hope some kings show up soon. Pretty depressing at the coffee clatch of trollers here this morning.
carojae
2013-04-18 06:21:02
Oh there is herring here and there for sure. I just don't see places like Pt Adolphus coming back like it was not too long ago. Probably the whale population or the kajillion Sea lions scooping them up because there is no place to hide I imagine. Use to be you couldn't see the bottom because the herring were so thick (at Adolphus) that the screen would turn total red top to bottom (and videos are not that old of technology).
My Dad use to tell stories of Port Frederick in his younger days when his outboard would kill hundreds of them because they were so thick. Heck, I remember scooping black cod bait at Hoonah Cold Storage with a milk carton/crate because they were so thick in the late 1980's.
And all those winter fisheries around these parts are no more. Everyone north of you has a story that would equal what I just said and maybe even the old hotspots like Kashakes. I claim no knowledge of that area but I've heard others griping about how things have changed.
Anyway, this topic caught my interest when
No kidding. When one boat can almost catch the quota by one lucky set you have to wonder how the sitka sac-roe fishery continues to be so lucky I guess with so many other boats with the same potential, not to mention the reckless danger for human life that everyone seems to just accept. And I hear there is "1" person calling the shots...? Amazing.
I'm not trying to express a sour or mean point of view it's just that I find it incredible. But like you say Eric, they must know what is happening in Sitka Sound because the herring keep coming back.
Anyway, doesn't seem to be many Kings around these parts either - I hope they come too. I was going to mention in the
:oops:
jim
I wish the F&G would do a real coordinated biomass survey of the herring stocks in lower Lynn Canal. I believe a lot of people would be surprised at the actual amount of herring ranging from Pt Hilda on Douglas Is. all the way to Pt Sherman above Berners Bay. I have been acquainted with this particular stock since I was a small child and I believe it has rebounded quite well over the last 20 years. Just because you can no longer dipnet spawn herring off the docks in Auke Bay and/or Tee Harbor doesn't mean anything except that the amount of year-around human activity has forced the stocks away from the noise and disturbance and sewer outfalls along the road system and the stocks now stay much further north than was the case in the 50s and 60s when my family operated a live herring pound system in Tee Harbor. Back then we were of the opinion that the center of the Lynn Canal herring population was up in Berners Bay and that the herring we were seeing and capturing down along the road system were the southern part of a dispersed population that could be found ranging up and down both sides of the Canal.
I operate boats throughout this area and I pay attention to what I am seeing on my sounder(s). For years I have fished for herring for my personal bait needs. I see large concentrations of multiple year-classes of herring easily supporting one of the largest concentrations of marine mammals species found anywhere in SE Alaska. No wonder we are seeing more sea lion here than any other time in recent memory. In my opinion many of the same people lamenting the lack of herring between Juneau and Haines are seldom out on the water besides during the months of May through September and when they ARE on the water - they must not have a true understanding about what they could be seeing on their sounder screens. The commercial guys running up and down lower Lynn Canal probably recognize the herring schools, but if it isn't a specie they are targeting - I suspect running over continuous large schools of herring at 50 to 80 fathoms isn't really going to spark much interest.
Don't get me wrong, the biomass is nothing like it was during the peak production years of the late 50s when as many as 4 back-to-back-to-back year-classes of herring frequented and spawned heavily along the mainland beaches between Fritz Cove and Eagle River. These are the images imprinted in the memories of a lot of local old-timers and the topic of stories of "how it used to be". And I agree that those images of millions of herring swimming by within easy reach for hours on end were both startling and amazing. But with the current population, I believe that a very large percentage of their spawn takes place out in deeper, quieter waters and consequently are seldom seen by anyone and certainly are not recorded by the F&G and NMFS herring biologists. Commercial pilots flying up and down both sides of Lynn Canal have mentioned seeing sizable spawn clouds along reefs and steep shorelines in deeper water (not inter-tidal). These spots were/are marked by large groups of sea lions working-over what appear to be spawning herring. In my experience, if the biologists don't see spawn (or don't conduct dive investigations on reported spawn), nothing is documented and the myth of "no herring" is perpetuated. With government funding slowing to a dribble for the study of important inshore salmon migrations, I don't expect to see a renewed effort to conduct coordinated acoustical studies of herring in Lynn Canal any time soon.
I am sure as hell not advocating for a commercial herring fishery in this area, but I think we can begin to dispense with the hand-wringing and cries for listing Lynn Canal herring as a separate "threatened" species. Our burgeoning Juneau whale-watch fleet is currently taking advantage of the increased lower Lynn Canal herring stocks that attract more and more Humpback whales to the area every summer. Herring are the organic engine supporting that economic boon to the local economy. Thousands and thousands of tons of Lynn Canal herring are being consumed each year as whale feed. I wouldn't go so far as to say this stock is now "healthy" but it seems to be making a slow and steady recovery that is becoming more visible all the time.
Trnaround
2013-04-18 13:35:15
Some great points here, and not to sound intolerant of other fisheries, or gear groups but I have to question the impact the herring fishery has on other fisheries. Although Sitka herring fishery can maintain itself and all due credit to good management but is that all there is? What is the impact to other species that would benefit if this mass of feed were not taken year after year? Would there not be an improvement in conditions for all species that live on herring and the herring themselves? The answer is yes. The hand writing is on the wall, halibut size is down in 2C and quotas have been cut, impact? Everyone is complaining of fewer salmon and smaller size, impact? I don't know but common sense and observation not science tells me there is more to it (and actually those are two of the most important tenets of good science). Herring is an economic driver for sure and for all fisheries and gear groups but I hope we are not getting blinded by an economic opportunity for a few and not seeing the impact to others.
carojae
2013-04-19 05:35:02
Haha.
More to come.