Age Composifion, Weight, Lengfh, and Sex of Herring, 

 C/upea paflasil Used for Reduction in Alaska, 1929-66 



By 



GERALD M. REID, Fishery Biologist 



National Marine Fisheries Service, Gibson Cove Facility 

 Kodiak, Alaska 99615' 



ABSTRACT 



Sampling data from the reduction fisheries for herring, Clupea pallasii, in south- 

 eastern Alaska (1929-66), Prince William Sound (1937-58), and Kodiak (1936-59) are 

 summarized. The data include the weight of the catches, the weight allowed by quota, 

 and age composition, average weight, average length, and sex ratios. 



INTRODUCTION 



In Alaska, herring, Clupea pallasii, have long 

 been used for food and bait, but for many years 

 their principal use was in the so-called re- 

 duction fishery. In this fishery, which began 

 in 1882 (Skud, Sakuda, and Reid, 1960) and 

 expanded rapidly, the herring was processed 

 into meal for animal food or fertilizer, or into 

 oil for paints and industrial uses. The greatest 

 production was from 1929 to 1966, when more 

 than 90% of all the herring caught went into 

 the reduction processes. In the peak year, 

 1937, 125,000 tons of herring were processed. 

 After 1937, the industry declined, and by 1966 

 the last processing plant engaged exclusively 

 in herring reduction was closed. 



Until 1925, about the only information avail- 

 able on the reduction fishery was the amount 

 of meal and oil produced ; little or nothing was 

 known about the numbers of fish processed or 

 the biology of the populations being fished. The 

 fishery had become so large by 1925 that con- 

 cern was being expressed about overexploita- 

 tion of the herring resource. As a result, the 



U.S. Bureau of Fisheries began gathering more 

 extensive data. The Bureau program, which 

 continued through 1966, emphasized the col- 

 lection of statistics on the catches and of in- 

 formation on the biology of the herring. 



This paper compiles the data gathered in 

 various years between 1929 and 1966 in the 

 three major herring fishing areas of Alaska 

 — southeastern Alaska, Prince William Sound 

 (including Resurrection Bay-Day Harbor),' 

 and Kodiak (Figure 1). 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF 

 CATCHES 



The distributions of the catches in the three 

 areas, which were designated as regulatory 

 districts to implement the regulations necessary 

 for management, are shown in Figures 2, 3, 

 and 4. 



The sizes of the catches and the amount of 

 fishing eflfort varied greatly within the area 

 covered by each district because (1) herring 



' Reid was employed at the National Marine Fish- 

 eries Service Biological Laboratory at Auke Bay, 

 Alaska, when he was compiling the data for this report. 



" Data from Resurrection Bay-Day Harbor, a regu- 

 latory -subdistrict of Prince William Sound, are pre- 

 sented separately in this paper because both bays are 

 located outside of Prince William Sound proper. 



