State fishery managers on Wednesday spotted several small schools of herring in deep waters of Sitka Sound north of Bieli Rock and east of Middle Island.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game personnel are posting reports from daily herring surveys as managers prepare to open the commercial sac roe herring seine fishery.

The guideline harvest level for the 2026 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is 35,015 tons, which is 15% of the 233,433 tons of mature herring that managers expect to return to Sitka Sound this year.

The 15% harvest rate is new this year; the Alaska Board of Fisheries last year reduced the maximum harvest rate for the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery from 20% to 15%.

Aerial surveyors in a float plane on Wednesday searched for signs of herring in portions of Sitka Sound including Eastern Channel to Biorka Island and St. Lazaria Island to Eastern Bay.

No herring schools or spawn were observed Wednesday from the float plane, Fish and Game said today. Weather conditions were poor with scattered snow showers and strong winds.

Few herring predators were seen throughout the surveyed area. A small number of humpback whales were observed in Eastern Channel and small number of sea lions were found near Inner Point.

Predator numbers and locations observed are more typical for surveys conducted earlier in the season and showed no change relative to previous aerial surveys.

The next aerial survey was scheduled to take place today, and the next fishery update is expected on Friday, Fish and Game said.

This story was originally published by the Daily Sitka Sentinel.