The Sitka Advisory Committee considered over a dozen herring proposals over two meetings in November, in order to deliver its recommendations to the Alaska Board of Fisheries before that group gathers in the new year to set regulations.
View the list of Sitka herring proposals here
The committee – dubbed the AC for short – put its full weight behind two proposals, as written. Proposals 171 and 172 from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game would change the formula the state uses to calculate how many herring can be harvested in the commercial sac roe fishery. It would raise the threshold for fishing and reduce the maximum guideline harvest level for herring for Sitka from 20 to 15%. State fisheries biometrician Dr. Sherri Dressel said it’s a precautionary measure, informed by updated studies in British Columbia that suggest some herring populations need a lower harvest rate than 20 percent to keep the populations at “conservation” levels.
“Since some of the stocks are 10 or 15, and we have not done an analysis specifically in it in Sitka Sound to address this, we recommend reducing the harvest rate, the maximum harvest rate down to 15%,” Dressel said. “I will say that the productivity of the Sitka population is comparable…It’s very high right now, which suggests it may very well be able to sustain this 20% harvest rate. But out of caution, since we haven’t done an analysis, we’re recommending to make the maximum 15.”
Area management biologist Aaron Dupuis used this example: if this proposal had been in place in early 2024, the harvest level for the sac roe fishery in Sitka would have been around 61,000 tons, a reduction of about 20,000 tons from the record-breaking GHL. The proposal garnered support from stakeholders in the room. Kyle Rosendale, a fisheries biologist with the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, said the Tribe supports measures to reduce the GHL and raise the threshold for commercial fishing. Seiner Justin Peeler said even though it could be a hit to the fishery, he supports ADF&G in its management decisions.
“As a commercial fisherman, it is a big breath to take to have your harvest rate cut, and I’ll be very honest about that, but I still, I still support their decision to put this proposal forward,” Peeler said. “I’m interested, you know, of course, about hearing more and will be at the Board of Fish to hear plenty more, I’m sure.”
The AC unanimously supported the state’s proposals, but took no action on proposals from the Sitka Tribe and the Herring Protectors seeking to reduce the guideline harvest level by other methods, citing its approval of the state’s proposals.
Members also greenlit a proposal from Andrew Thoms to cap the guideline harvest level for herring – though they preferred raising the 15,000-ton cap Thoms suggested to 25,000 tons.
The AC voted down four proposals from a local advocacy group, the Herring Protectors, but supported a fifth. Committee members rejected the Herring Protectors’ proposed 5000-ton cap on the guideline harvest level, along with a proposal to prohibit the fishery from occurring three consecutive days or more, a proposal to reduce the length limit of purse seine nets for commercial harvest, and a proposal to expand waters closed to the sac roe fishery to include the majority of waters herring have historically spawned in. Each failed with just one AC member voting in favor of the proposals.
The one Herring Protectors proposal that did garner AC support was proposal 190, which provides for co-management of herring fisheries with tribal governments. Charlie Skultka Jr. pointed to tribal co-management of fisheries in Washington as a success story.
“Speaking as a tribal citizen, we’ve been extending all these olive branches out there as we grow our tribal governments and start exercising our sovereignty. Co-management is the only way we’re going to be able to successfully do this for all user groups. So I really support this,” Skultka said. “Equal co-management would eliminate a lot of these problems that we’re seeing now with user groups.”
In a 10-1 vote, with one abstention, the AC gave its support to proposal 190, after it recommended the removal of a section that would allow tribal governments to call an emergency closure of a fishery.
A proposal from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska got traction in the committee. The Members greenlit a section of the Tribe’s proposal that would require herring test set data be made available to the public.
A proposal from traditional harvester Steve Johnson to close commercial fishing in Promisla Bay got a lot of support from members of the public who attended the meeting. Johnson said that as fish have moved further north in Sitka Sound, Promisla Bay has become increasingly important for subsistence.
“I used to set all of my stuff in Northern Kasiana where my dad set, where my grandfather set year, after year, after year,” Johnson said. “And it met the needs, but then it started not meeting the needs, and so after a while, after pulling thin and empty sets, you start looking for better areas. Promisla Bay was the answer, and has continued to produce year after year for the last several years, which is one reason why I’d like to protect it.”
But the reception to Johnson’s idea from the committee was mixed. It was the only herring proposal that got a split vote, 6 in favor, 6 opposed.
Among the other proposals that failed to garner AC support: A proposal to open Sitka Sound to spawn-on-kelp permit holders, and a proposal to allow sac roe purse seine holders to use open pound gear.
A thumbs up from the Sitka Fish & Game Advisory Committee doesn’t guarantee adoption by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, which meets in Ketchikan early next year. The Sitka AC will continue to review fisheries proposals later this month. At its next meeting on November 20, members will review proposals for management of the seine, gillnet, and subsistence salmon and sport salmon fisheries.
View an index of the 2024-2025 Alaska Board of Fisheries Proposals by region here
