Spare Fleet Readies for Togiak Herring Season
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Bristol Bay Times] By Hannah Colton - April 20, 2015
After another mild winter and warm spring, Alaska's largest herring fishery will probably start inside of April again this year.
Seine and gillnet boats, and their buyers, are converging on the grounds of the Togiak sac roe herring fishery, where an estimated 29,012 tons will be available for harvest.
The herring district is ice-free, so the Department of Fish and Game is monitoring sea surface temperature to help predict when the herring will arrive.
"We know that generally we have to have three-plus degree (C) water for the herring to start showing up and spawning," said area management biologist Tim Sands. He's monitoring National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite data on sea surface temperatures out of the Dillingham ADF&G office.
Sands said long, sunny days or a good storm from the south...
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