The Sitka sac roe herring fishery is done for the season as seiners reached the full quota Saturday after a fifth and final opener.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is estimating the cumulative catch at 19,636 tons.
The "guideline harvest level" coming into the season was 19,490 tons.
So this is really interesting. The industry has taken all the fish it could, despite the considerable uncertainty in disaster-wracked Japan, the only serious market for herring roe.
Reliable information on herring prices at Sitka has been scarce. The reason could be that prices simply don't exist yet pending some sense of what the market is willing to pay.
Naturally, Deckboss is aiming to find out more.