Commercial Herring Fisheries
Historical Herring Spawn Locations in Southeast Alaska

The following video clips depict shoreline where herring spawn was observed at several of the prominent herring spawning areas in Southeast Alaska. Most of these areas have been monitored by ADF&G since at least the 1970s. Spawn shoreline was determined primarily by mapping milt during active spawn events that was observed during fixed-wing aerial surveys. These surveys were conducted daily once spawning had commenced and then followed by skiff surveys to more accurately verify the presence of eggs at the edges of aerial surveyed areas. Complete aerial surveys were not always possible due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances, and so maps of observed spawn represent the minimum shoreline where spawn was present.

The intent of these video clips is to provide a historical and broad spatial perspective of how herring use of shoreline for spawning within the larger spawning area may shift among years. Each map includes the total cumulative active spawn that was observed in the specified year. For years when no spawn was observed or historical records were not available maps have been omitted. For more information about how spawn mileage is used to estimate herring biomass and manage herring fisheries, see the annual stock assessment reports located on the Southeast Herring Research webpage.