Long after Fish and Game closed down the Sitka Sac Roe Herring fisheries in Southeast Alaska, another large biomass of herring have moved into the area and are depositing their roe along the shores of Baronof Island.

The season was shut down on April 3rd after Fish and Game decided after their surveys that there wasn’t adequate marketable fish in the area to continue the fishery. The season was closed as the fishermen failed to catch the allowable quota of 11,550 tons. The 48 seiners that took part in the fisheries came up 5,700 tons short of the allowable catch.

Over 6 miles of shoreline was undergoing the late spawn of the second wave of fish on Sunday. Because most of the boats participating in the fisheries have already gone on to other grounds, and deciding that it would be bad policy, Fish and Game decided against opening the area for further fishing. Samples taken of the second wave of spawning herring showed a 12% roe content from 125 gram fish on average.

The first wave of spawning herring peaked over two weeks ago. Although a second wave of spawning herring is not an unusual event, it doesn’t happen every year.

The first wave of hering came in earlier this month and quickly began spawning on the shores of Baranof Island, the spawning took place so quickly, it outpaced the fishing efforts, and very soon the Herring remaining in the area were largely spawned out. This led to a closure of the fisheries as the biomass was largely unmarketable.

This is the second year in a row that this has occurred.