December 16, 2019 — There are plenty of herring around in the fishery in Togiak, on the northwest side of Bristol Bay. This year’s quota is roughly 80 million pounds.
But herring fishermen, who come to Togiak from all over the state, still have a problem. They target herring for their tiny eggs, which once commanded steep prices in Japan. But not any more.
“I’m a recovering herring fisherman,” joked Bruce Schactler.
Schactler, who lives in Kodiak, has been fishing in Togiak off and on since 1985. But he won’t be returning this summer.
“The market is so bad that Trident will not be buying fish this year, so we’re not going. Every ton that is frozen and shipped off to Japan is a loser. There’s no money being made,” he said.
Trident is one of four companies that buy herring roe and sell it to Japan, the only customer. In the 1990s, that roe could sell for $1,000 a ton. But in 2019, that price was at $75. Fishermen’s total earnings last year were about $1.5 million, down from a high of more than $20 million in 1995. Fishermen like Schactler say that even at that low price, processors are still losing money on herring.