Courtesy of ADF&G

One of the Aleutians’ smallest fisheries, the Dutch Harbor Food and Bait Herring Fishery, opened on Monday. Three seiners are participating this year -- one each for Trident, Westward, and Peter Pan. Locals may have noticed the boats’ spotter plane flying in and out of port, but those hoping to catch a glimpse of the harvest are likely going to be disappointed.

Although herring often school in Captain’s Bay, that’s not the case this year. Instead, the harvest is taking place off of Akutan’s Lava Point.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Nat Nichols says that an estimated 1,135 tons have been caught so far, which is 64 percent of the total allocation.

The gillnet herring fishery is also open, and has an allocation of 317 tons, but so far none of that has been harvested. On July 25, whatever remains of the gillnet quota will roll over to the seine fishery.