The Togiak sac roe herring fishery appears to be coming along swimmingly.
Purse seiners have taken 6,380 tons thus far and gillnetters have taken 735 tons, for a grand total of 7,115 tons.
That's about 33 percent of the preseason quota of 21,622 tons.
More details here from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Six days so far and 1/3 of the quota is harvested. Seems kind of slow to me. Good for the gas company.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that the dept will miss on the Togiak harvest like they did at Sitka? Anybody hear what is being paid? Seem like a waste to me to be killing a forage fish and getting paid so little, just for the roe. Couldn't those herring be put to better use in feeding other stocks?
ReplyDeleteShould fisheries should be put on hold because the price is low? How about seining pinks for .10/lb.? Open the fishery and let the market dictate. The reason it's taking long to catch the quota is because there are fewer fishing. Yes the price is low but if they choose to fish that's their choice not yours.
ReplyDeletesitka this year you could have left it open all spring and you still would not have taken the quota!but i geuss a seiner with your type of mentality would still fish these herring for even 10 cents a pound.it's all about greed and the fleet now telling the fish and game what to do!!
ReplyDeleteFishermen collectively requesting a closure due to lack of fish, or roe percentage, is different than someone suggesting a closure due to low prices.
ReplyDeleteYes, fisheries for herring should be put on hold if the price is too low to justify killing such a valuable forage fish. Even you must know the difference between killing hatchery pinks or other salmon after escapement goals have been achieved vs killing forage fish. I simply put out the question of whether there might be a better use for the herring and what the price was. It must have hit a tender spot to warrant such a hostile reply. You represent the reason for the adage that leaving management of the fish resource up to the fisherman is like leaving the fox in charge of the chicken house. Not good for the fish or the chickens.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm last I knew department of fish and game ran our fisheries, not the fisherman. Were just the ones who pay big money for our boats, gear, and permits to have the opportunity to harvest fish the adf&g allows us too. I scratch my head at you people not even sometimes but all the time. Shame on us for trying to make a living..........
ReplyDeleteAmen to that..................
ReplyDeleteMy reply was neither hostile nor did your comment touch a tender spot. Fisherman fish, managers manage. When it's open I'll fish if I feel it’s economical. I took 2 years off from Bristol Bay because to me it wasn’t. If you choose not to fish that's fine. Openings are up to NMFS and ADF&G and based on observation and science, not price. Are you going to dictate what price is acceptable for everyone? Obviously for those fishing now their price is lower than yours.
ReplyDeleteTo the price setter, salmon are forage fish too. Beluga's, bears, eagles, dolly vardon etc. Oh, and humans. We fished salmon for .10/lb in SE. Granted we received a refer and dock delivery but we still made money. Guess what..some guys chose not to fish. They went to california to chase squid. Less boats meant more fo us. Glad you didn't close it on us due to the low price!
ReplyDeleteLeave them for the forage fish? What a crock! Let’s see, herring return to Togiak by the tens of thousands of tons. Gee, perhaps the forage fish aren’t eating them all. A 20% harvest of the biomass has proven sustainable. It’s a win/win. The forage fish take what they need and the few fishermen that feek they can make money at these low prices have that opportunity. Let’s keep the socialists out of management.
ReplyDeleteYour able to take two years off bristol bay cause its supplemental income for you. What's your real job?? School teacher, maybe federal or state employee who builds up vacation time that has insurance and who is building a pension???? Well for some of us alls we have is fishing. Good price, bad price, no fish, lots of fish. Fishing pays for our fishing, not our other desk job. As said above shame on us for trying to make a living too.......
ReplyDeleteI am a Bering Sea crabber.
ReplyDeleteWow, talk about hitting a tender spot. You just said it above, "good pirce, bad price"? If you are just a fisherman then quit whining...go fishing.
ReplyDeleteCrewmembering doesn't count, raingear and a license isn't an investment there bering sea crab stud...........
ReplyDeleteSomething tells me you are used to being wrong.
ReplyDeleteSomething tells me that the other guys is right, common sense can detect a wannabe, sorry fishing hasn't worked for you but don't hate the guys who do make it work.......
ReplyDeleteWow! it looks like my earlier question of whether the Dept. will miss on Togiak like they did in Sitka was on point. they have missed big in Togiak shutting down way below their predicted harvest. Eventually when the stocks get so depleted the Dept. will finally realize that their modeling is simply wrong. Hope it's not too late. Everyone who benefits from Alaska waters should be REAL concerned about this lack of sound management. It will eventually adversely affect all of us.
ReplyDeleteWow another genius in the making, how long have the sitka and togiak herring fisheries been harvesting herring??? Since the mid seventies. One marginal year and all of the sudden were wiping out the stock??? Really??? Fishing is cyclical doesn't matter what species. Adjustments are made by the adf&g according to catch. Have some freakin faith in the system people the track record over the past 30-35 years speaks for itself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Let ADF&G do their work. Funny how some lazy boy fisherman thinks he knows more than the managers.
ReplyDeleteOne question though. What's with the 3 question marks on your comments/question. Does that really, really, really make your point?
Faith in the system, huh? Right. Let's see; Faith in the system has led to no more dungeness in Yakutat, Stocks of concern in six river systems in Cook Inlet, a couple in Kodiak, no more King crab in Cook Inlet, no harvestable herring in Cook inlet, in PWS, and anywhere in SE except for the Sitka stocks, which are heading down, a big and continuing huge decline in King salmon everywhere, and the Yukon which used to be a mighty King salmon river on its face with not even a subsistence season open. Maybe all this is just cyclical in your mind. I could list more, but even you should get the point. But do you care is the real question.
ReplyDelete"But do you care is the real question."???(note the 3 question marks)! My question as well.
ReplyDeleteIn the 50 years of state management, I've seen the dummying-down of agency workers in the last 30 years. If they get too cocky, then Special Interest groups rock their paths to a plush retirement program.
...my understanding is that biomass was there, but spawned out? In Sitka there simply was no biomass....
ReplyDeleteStocks in PWS were not depleted by management. Perhaps they would be now, 23 years after Exxon Valdez...
ReplyDelete