Fisheries, Subsistence, and Habitat
Publications Searchable Database
Search Again| Division: | Commercial Fish |
| Title: | Statistics of the commercial fishery for Pacific herring from the Kodiak area, Alaska |
| Author: | Burkey, C., Jr. and J. Reid |
| Year: | 1988 |
| Report ID: | Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Technical Fishery Report No. 88-11, Juneau |
| Abstract: | Data pertaining to the commercial fishery for Pacific herring in the Kodiak management area is collected and summarized. Herring have been harvested in the Kodiak area since 1912 in all but 10 years. During the development phase of the fishery from 1912 to 1932 an average of 1.569 tonnes per year were salted or used as bait. The reduction fishery lasted from 1933 to 1959 with an annual harvest averaging 19,893 tonnes. The sac-roe fishery began in 1964 and has accounted for 94% of the 1,230-tonne average annual harvest. Before 1978 seines were essentially the only gear type used to harvest herring in the Kodiak area. In the last decade fishing effort has averaged 53 seiners and 78 gill netters making an average of 153 and 292 landings a year. Since 1964 the food/bait fishery has landed an average of 84 tonnes a year with an average annual effort of two seiners, four gill netters, and three trawlers. Before 1978 the cumulative catch by day curve for sac-roe herring differed greatly for year to year. Since then the rate of harvest has shown much less between year variation with 25%, 50%, and 75% of total harvest (on the average) being taken by May 2, May 9, and May 21, respectively. In the last decade ex-vessel prices paid for sac-roe herring have ranged from $422 to $1,500 per tonne, while food/bait prices have remained relatively stable at about $400 per tonne. The ex-vessel value of the Kodiak herring fishery has averaged $1,209,250 per year over the last 10 years. The sac-roe fishery has accounted for 97.4% of this income. The mean annual income for a unit of seine and gill net gear between 1978 and 1987 was $28,034 and $4,852, respectively. Since 1979, between 4000-9000 herring per year have been sampled for age, sex, and size in the Kodiak area. Age frequency composition of seine caught samples pooled over herring management districts show similar trends over time. Recruitment has been relatively weak in all but the last 2 years. The 1978 brood year was the largest component of the catch from 1982 to 1985. Mean length at age for seine caught herring from management districts between 1981 and 1987 do not appear to differ. |
| Keywords: | herring Clupea harengus pallasi Kodiak commercial fishery age sex size |