Togiak herring to remain dormant a third year

The herring sac roe fishery near the remote Southwest Alaska village of Togiak once was the state's biggest herring fishery.

But industry interest in Togiak's abundant herring has waned in recent years amid poor markets, and the fishery was inactive in 2023 and 2024.

Now it appears the Togiak fishery will remain idle again this year.

"Processors have indicated that they do not intend to harvest herring in Togiak in 2025, and it is unlikely that a commercial fishery will occur," the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said today in this advisory announcement.

Togiak herring forecast

Once again, a huge volume of herring will be up for grabs this year at Togiak, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game setting a harvest quota of 41,163 tons for the sac roe fishery.

It's unclear, however, whether the industry has any taste for Togiak herring. The fishery was dormant in 2023 and 2024, and processors, purse seiners and gillnetters may stay home this year as well.

Togiak herring to stay dormant

The Togiak herring stock remains robust, but the industry again is showing no interest.

"Processors have indicated that they do not intend to harvest herring in Togiak in 2024 and it is unlikely that a commercial fishery will occur," the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced today.

Here's the Togiak herring forecast, if anyone cares

Once again, a large volume of herring is forecasted at Togiak.

But we might see a repeat of last season, when the fishery never opened due to lack of industry interest.

Togiak is toast

The long, slow decline of the Togiak herring fishery is now complete.

"Processors have indicated that they do not intend to harvest herring in Togiak in 2023 and there will be no commercial fishery," the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports. "The department does not expect this will change."

This despite a gargantuan volume of herring available for harvest this year at Togiak.

Evidently, no one wants it.

Another huge Togiak herring forecast

The state today announced a harvest quota of 57,419 tons for next year's Togiak sac roe herring fishery.

Overboard death reported at Togiak

Here's the press release.

It's all over at Togiak

Fishery managers today closed the Togiak herring fishery for the season.

The harvest total is confidential, as only two processors registered for the fishery — Silver Bay and Ocean Beauty.

Coming into the season, the quota for the Togiak sac roe fishery was huge at 65,107 tons.

But participation in the fishery was extremely low, with only eight seiners taking part and no gillnetters.

The ex-vessel price reportedly was $100 per ton, which has become the default grounds price in recent years pending sale of the product. Togiak herring are valued primarily for their roe content.

All set at Togiak

The Togiak herring fishery will open at 8 a.m. Wednesday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced.

An enormous quota of 65,107 tons is up for grabs this season in the sac roe fishery.

Epic Togiak herring forecast

The Togiak herring forecast is out, and a staggering volume of herring looks to be up for grabs.

The state is projecting a potential harvest of 65,107 tons in the sac roe fishery.

Of course, with demand for herring roe no better than it is, we might expect the harvest will fall well short of that mark.

Togiak herring fishery opens

Here's the announcement.

Plenty of Togiak herring, again

The state says 24,042 tons will be available for harvest in next year's Togiak sac roe herring fishery.

More details in this forecast.

Last season produced a harvest of 17,403 tons on a quota of 22,943 tons.

It's go time at Togiak

Herring have arrived at Togiak and the fishery is set to open at 6 tonight.

Plenty of herring expected again at Togiak

Here's the Togiak herring forecast for 2017. It shows a quota of 22,943 tons for the sac roe fishery.

Last season, the industry took more than 15,000 tons of herring at Togiak, but that was far short of the 28,782-ton quota.

It's on at Togiak

The Togiak sac roe herring fishery will open at 6 p.m. today.

Here's the official announcement from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The industry has another huge quota this year at 28,782 tons.

Togiak fishermen seek protection

Update: The Board of Fisheries will meet at 2 p.m. Friday to consider this matter.

Togiak District gillnetters have submitted an emergency petition to the Alaska Board of Fisheries seeking an extension of the district's unique "superexclusive" status.

Togiak is the westernmost of Bristol Bay's five salmon fishing districts, and historically the least productive.

Fishing reportedly hasn't been good this year at Togiak, and the petitioning gillnetters don't want to see fishermen from other districts transferring in to compete for sockeye.

They want the district's superexclusive protection extended by nearly three weeks, to Aug. 15.

No word yet on whether the Board of Fisheries will convene a public meeting to consider the petition.

The final numbers on Togiak herring

Tim Sands, area biologist with the Department of Fish and Game in Dillingham, kindly provided Deckboss with final numbers from the Togiak sac roe herring fishery, which closed for the season on Monday.

• The total harvest was large at 21,594 tons, but fell short of the preseason quota of more than 29,000 tons.

• The purse seine fleet took its full allocation with a harvest of 20,374 tons, including an estimated 500 tons of deadloss.

• The gillnet fleet took 1,220 tons, or only 14 percent of its allocation.

• As for fishing effort, 16 seine boats and six gillnet boats took part in the fishery.

• Four processing companies showed up to buy herring: Icicle, North Pacific, Silver Bay and Trident.

Togiak herring fishery wraps up

The Togiak sac roe herring fishery will close for the season at noon today.

The purse seine fleet was expected to reach its full quota, while the gillnet fleet quit fishing on Saturday, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said.

Three notes

The Copper River salmon fishery will open for the season at 7 a.m. May 14. It'll be a 12-hour period, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says. More details here.

Out west at Togiak, the sac roe herring fishery cruises along. The seine fleet has taken 15,654 tons on its quota of 20,309 tons. As for the gillnet fleet, the department is holding the catch total confidential because only two companies are buying gillnet fish.

On the Yukon River, managers don't anticipate a commercial fishery for Chinook salmon due to continued weak returns. The picture is brighter for chum and coho. Read the Yukon outlook here.

It's on at Togiak!

The Togiak sac roe herring fishery opened at 8 p.m. tonight.

Here's the official announcement.

The quota is enormous at 29,012 tons.