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Department of

Fish and Game


DIVISION OF COMMERCIAL FISHERIES
Sitka Area Office
304 Lake Street, Room 103
Sitka, Alaska 99835-7563
Main: 907.747.6688
Fax: 907.747.6693

February 6, 2018

Tentative guidelines and expectations for the 2018 Sitka sac roe herring cooperative fishery

The department’s authority is limited to opening and closing the fishery by emergency order in consideration of
conservation, herring quality and the subsistence fishery. The purpose of this letter is to provide an expectation
of how the department will manage the 2018 Sitka herring sac roe fishery in consideration of an industry initiated
agreement to harvest the GHL in a cooperative style fishery.

Administrative

1. All processors will be required to register providing the names of the permit holders that the company will be
buying herring from, the seine vessels and permit holders that will be harvesting, the hold capacity of the
harvesting vessels, tenders and hold capacities, and the processing facility the herring will be processed. Any
other information the department determines is necessary to manage the fishery.

2. A processor’s share will be based on (GHL of 11,128 tons/48 permit holders=232 tons/permit) times the
number of permit holders registered with that company.

3. Regulations provide that a CFEC permit holder must be on board the harvesting vessel and remain onboard
until fish are delivered. Fish tickets will only be issued to those permit holder(s) on board the harvesting
vessel.

4. Designated processor representatives will be required to maintain frequent communication with the
department as the fishery progresses providing information on the status of sets, amounts harvested and
processed, available capacities, fish quality including roe percentage and fish size and plans for further
harvesting. Processor hails will be the primary means for tracking harvests throughout the fishery.

5. Harvests above the processor share should be avoided or minimized and sharing of fish between processors
encouraged. Harvest above the processor’s share that cannot be given to another processor will be forfeited to
the Department of Fish and Game and landed on the department’s test fish CFEC card.

Management

1. The department’s R/V Kestrel will be deployed to Sitka when necessary to support management of the
fishery. As is normally done, the department will seek test boats to conduct test fishing as necessary to
determine when and where quality herring are available for harvest. After an area has been identified for a
fishery, two-hour notice will be given prior to opening the fishery.

2. The department will deploy a number of skiffs to monitor sets and the outcome of sets to ensure compliance
and orderliness of the harvest.

3. The fishery will be open by emergency order during daylight hours between 8:00 am-6:00 pm with specific
times subject to change inseason.
2018 Sitka Herring Coop Guidelines -2- February 6, 2018

4. As the fishery progresses beyond the initial opening the department may require that all vessels call in before
making a set so the department can easily track all sets for quality, quantity and whether the set is retained or
not.

5. Test samplers must be immediately present when a set is made and samples taken as soon as possible. Sets
shall be held loosely during the test sampling process to avoid undue stress on the herring.

6. The department will close areas immediately if fish quality becomes questionable to avoid excessive releasing
of sets.

7. Once the fishery is opened, it is expected that sets with test samples indicating 11% roe recovery or better will
be retained. This guideline may be revised downward if necessary to avoid excessive high grading of sets.

8. Once the fishery is opened the department may close the fishery at any time to ensure conservation and an
orderly fishery. If a closure becomes necessary for this purpose, a plan must be agreed upon that rectifies the
issue before the department will re-open the fishery.

9. The fishery may be closed for the season if necessary for purposes of conservation or department budgetary
constraints regardless of participants receiving their expected share.

10. The department will close the fishery for the season, once the GHL is reached.

Expected Conduct of Fishing Activity

1. Sets shall be held for the minimum time necessary to take a sample and determine quality of the herring.

2. Excessive releasing of sets or high grading is to be avoided.

3. Sets larger than 200 tons are discouraged to avoid loss of control of sets and loss of fish. Excessively large
sets greater than available holding capacity that results in sets being partially “spilled” prior to pumping
should be avoided.

4. At no time may herring be released from a set that has been pumped for any length of time or held for an
excessive amount of time.

5. The fishery will be monitored closely for any activity that results in the waste of herring. Any waste of
herring will be subject to investigation for violation of wanton waste laws.

These guidelines are subject to change as necessary to ensure conservation and orderly management of the
fishery.

Eric E. Coonradt,

Sitka Area Management Biologist


Division of Commercial Fisheries
Alaska Department of Fish and Game

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