substantiated many areas in Rounsef ell's 

 listing for Southeastern Alaska and also 

 have located additional spawning areas. 

 Aerial surveys also have shown that areas 

 utilized for spawning may differ from year 

 to year. Some areas listed by Rounsefell 

 have not been utilized in recent years. 

 Tables 1 to 5 and figures 3 to 8 list spawn- 

 ing areas in Southeastern Alaska discovered 

 by the aerial survey method and compare 

 them with Rounsefell's listing. 



The points listed represent definitive 

 landmarks nearest actual spawning beaches 

 and carry no significance as to extent of 

 spawning. Some locations encompass far more 

 ground than was utilized for spawning and 

 others only a fraction of the total spawning 

 area. For example, Pybus Bay (No. 16 on 

 fig. 6) spawning includes but a very small 

 portion of the bay; on the other hand, 

 spawning at Fish Egg Island (No. 14 on fig. 

 5) occurs around the entire island. Spawn- 

 ing has been observed by air on 20 of the 57 

 spawning beaches listed by Rounsefell, and 

 82 new beaches have been located since 1953. 

 Extensive aerial surveys, rather than an 

 increase in beaches actually used for spawn- 

 ing, probably explain the large number of 

 new spawnings discovered. There are three 

 possible explanations why the 37 beaches 

 listed by Rounsefell were not detected by 

 aerial survey: (1) Changes may have taken 

 place in spawning locales since 1930; (2) 

 timing of aerial surveys may not have been 

 synchronized with time of spawning in some 

 areas; and (3) spawning beaches included 

 those reported by local residents. 



TIME OF SPAWNING 



Rounsefell (1930) described a north- 

 erly and westerly progression in spawning 

 time along the Pacific coast from Califor- 

 nia to the Bering Sea. Although some 

 spawning areas in Southeastern Alaska follow 

 this same progression, other areas do not. 

 The earliest spawning occurs in the Craig 

 area during the last two weeks of March, 

 followed by the Kah Shakes and Sitka areas 

 in late March and early April, and the Auke 

 Bay area in late April and early May. The 

 Behm Canal, Etolin Island, and areas in the 

 vicinity of Frederick Sound are somewhat 

 erratic in time of spawning. Spawning has 

 been reported in early April and in June. 

 At present no explanation for variance in 

 spawning progression is apparent. Differ- 

 ences in environmental requirements of 

 different races could, of course, influence 

 time of spawning. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF SPAWNING BEACHES 



In conjunction with aerial surveys, 

 a few ground surveys have been undertaken. 

 Considerable variation of physical charac- 

 teristics exists among the beaches examined. 

 Spawning beaches at Fish Egg Island (fig. 

 5) are for the most part, gently sloping 

 gravel beaches with patches of eelgrass 

 ( Zostera ) , rockweed (Fucus ) , and vine kelp 

 ( Macrocystis ) . In contrast, spawning 

 beaches in Pearl Harbor (fig. 7) are steep, 

 rocky shores covered with rockweed in the 

 intertidal zone and beds of bladder kelp 

 ( Nereocystis ) in deeper water. Eggs were 

 attached to all vegetation but predominant- 

 ly to eelgrass and rockweed. Unidentified 

 vegetation was utilized to a much lesser 

 degree. 



In some areas the same spawning 

 beaches are utilized annually, whereas in 

 others there is a definite change in loca- 

 tion of spawning beaches from year to year. 

 Observations during the past three years 

 indicate that time of spawning varies less 

 in areas where the same beaches are utilized 

 year after year. For example, the first 

 spawning of the Craig population in 1953 was 

 reported on March 23, in 1954 on March 23, 

 and in 1955 on March 28. This initial spawn- 

 ing was always on the west shore of Fish Egg 

 Island. In the Behm Canal area, on the 

 other hand, the first spawning was reported 

 on April 6 at Helm Bay in 1953, on April 26 

 at Indian Point in 1954, and on April 19 at 

 Caamano Point in 1955. 



SUMMARY 



A method of aerial survey, pioneered 

 by L. N. Kolloen, has been developed to 

 observe spawning activities of herring in 

 Alaska. Surveys are conducted at altitudes 

 of 500 to 700 feet. Reduced prints of 

 navigation charts are used to plot survey 

 routes and locations of beach areas used 

 for spawning. Observations of spawning are 

 recorded as "active spawn" when milt is 

 present and "old spawn" when the only evi- 

 dence of spawn is birds in the area. 



A comparison of Southeastern Alaska 

 spawning beaches located by air and those 



