Holding hands at Sitka

The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is known for aggressive skippers willing to grind hulls in pursuit of a big and rich haul.

But we won't see any combat this year.

That's because the fishery's 48 seine permit holders have notified the state that they have agreed to a "cooperative/equal split fishery."

This means the industry will harvest the herring using far fewer boats, splitting expenses and profits.

The co-op also is seen as something of a peace offering to Native subsistence interests at Sitka, who have long fought to restrict or eliminate the commercial harvest.

The herring fishery is expected to get underway later this month.

The state has issued guidelines and expectations for the cooperative fishery.

We've seen the Sitka herring fleet go co-op before, for various reasons.

The entire 2015 season ran as a co-op, and the fleet formed a co-op at the end of last season as a means of cleaning up the small amount of quota that remained.

Off and ... jogging!

KCAW Raven Radio reports the Sitka sac roe herring fishery has begun, and the normally combative seiners are fishing as a co-op.