Herring fishermen in Sitka, Alaska, will target their highest quota ever next year after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced the guideline harvest level (GHL) for the 2011 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is 19,490 tonnes.
This GHL is based on a 20% harvest rate of the forecast biomass of over 97,000 tonnes of mature herring.
According to ADF&G, the Sitka Sound herring stock is at the highest level seen since the department began record-keeping in 1964.
Herring abundance is estimated, in part, using aerial surveys designed to map spawning locations and record the length of shoreline with spawn, followed by dive surveys which estimate the density of eggs and the average width of the spawn.
In the spring of 2010, the department recorded a total of 87.7 nautical miles of herring spawn in the greater Sitka Sound area.
Spawning occurred broadly throughout the northern Sitka Sound area, with significant spawning also occurring in the Dorothy Narrows area near Goddard Hot Springs.
The department is planning a stakeholders meeting in Sitka in the second week of February, with a specific date to be announced at a later time.
ADF&G will present the data and modelling used for the forecast and to discuss management strategies for this coming season.
