Fish and Game closes Kodiak's Eastside District to herring food and bait fishing

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed the Kodiak Area's Eastside District to commercial herring food and bait fishing at noon Friday. Eastside carried the largest single share of this fall's 1,280-ton areawide guideline harvest level.

The closure advisory went out at 10 am, two hours before the shutdown. It gives no Eastside catch figure and does not say the district's harvest level was met. It states only the closure time. Under the department's rules, each district closes for the remainder of the season once its level is reached.

The closure follows the department's shutdown of the Uganik and Uyak districts at noon Nov. 6, which held 320 and 160 tons.

Five districts remain open until further notice, with these harvest levels:

• West Afognak, 100 tons

• Alitak, 90 tons

• Inner Marmot, 80 tons

• South Afognak, 25 tons

• North Afognak, 20 tons

Those five districts total 315 tons. The rest of the Kodiak Area stays closed, including the Offshore West Afognak, Outer Uganik and Offshore Uyak Bay sections. The fishery runs only in state waters.

The A season opened at 9 am Oct. 26. The preseason advisory set Eastside's level at 485 tons, more than a third of the areawide total, which was 130 tons less than last year's. Last fall the department closed Eastside at noon Nov. 10, 2025, when its level was 580 tons against an areawide total of 1,410 tons.

Participating permit holders, buyers and tender operators must register with the ADF&G Kodiak office, and fishermen must report their catch there immediately upon landing. The department says failure to report will result in adjacent area closures.