Craig and Klawock winter herring bait fishery opens Wednesday before harvest limit is set

The Craig and Klawock winter herring food and bait fishery opens at 12:01 am Wednesday, Oct. 7, under Emergency Order 1H1226. That is six days later than last season and comes before the Alaska Department of Fish and Game sets a harvest limit.

The department's Oct. 5 announcement says the 2026 spawn deposition estimate shows the guideline harvest level "is expected to be more than adequate" for the fishery to begin. The formal forecast and limit come later this year. The release does not explain the shift from Oct. 1, which was both last season's and the regulatory opening date. The fishery may run through Feb. 28, open only during periods set by emergency order.

Last year's notice cited the spawn estimate "and preliminary model runs." This year's notice, like those in 2023 and 2024, does not. Last season's harvest limit of 7,095 tons arrived Dec. 19, about 11 weeks after opening day.

The Craig spawn totaled 21.2 nautical miles this year, below the 10-year average of 27.7, according to the 2026 Southeast Alaska Herring Summary. It lasted 16 days, about twice the usual seven to eight, with repeated spawn over the same shoreline.

Regulation splits the harvest limit 60% to bait and 40% to spring spawn-on-kelp pounds, which receive whatever bait goes unharvested. Last season that meant 4,257 tons for bait and an initial 2,838 tons for pounds. The bait harvest total was confidential, and the department said the leftover share gave the pounds a significantly higher limit. In all, 124 permits landed 152.0 tons of spawn-on-kelp product from 69 pound structures.

Three other Southeast districts stay closed. Ernest Sound had 4.0 nautical miles of spawn near Vixen Inlet, too little for a survey. Hobart Bay and Port Houghton went unsurveyed "due to budget constraints," and no spawn was reported there. Tenakee Inlet was not surveyed either; its 2.9 nautical miles of spawn were all outside the inlet. Trocadero Bay stays closed east of Canoe Point.

Fishermen and tender operators need a department permit, available at the Ketchikan, Sitka, Petersburg and Douglas offices. Permit holders must report harvest amount and location to the Ketchikan office by noon the day after harvest and provide one 5-gallon bucket of herring from each delivery for sampling.