Petition to List Lynn Canal Pacific Herring under the Endangered ...

Leon (1993) detected statistically significant differences in length-at-age and/or
growth rates between three stocks of Pacific herring in Southeast Alaska,
separated from one another by a minimum of 160 miles: 1) Sitka Sound, 2)
Seymour Canal, and 3) Kah Shakes-Boca de Quadra. Comparison between two
spawning sites separated by only 15-20 miles, Annette Island and Boca de
Quadra, also indicated area-specific differences in growth characteristics (Leon
1993).
(Stout et al. 2001).
3. Morphologically Distinct
Lynn Canal Herring are morphologically distinct from other Pacific Herring.
Rounsefell and Dahlgren (1935) delineated six populations in Southeast Alaska, and the
Lynn Canal Herring were then described as the “Juneau - Icy Strait area” as recounted by
Stout et al. (2001).
Rounsefell and Dahlgren (1935) examined herring stock structure in Southeast
Alaska, mainly through comparison of the mean number of vertebrae in different
year-classes between 32 localities. Individual year-classes were studied, since a
high negative correlation was found between temperature during development and
the mean vertebral number in different year-classes. Rounsefell and Dahlgren
(1935) identified six populations in Southeast Alaska that they considered
independent of one another, based on a combination of differences in vertebral
counts, growth rates, and year-class strength: 1) Juneau-Icy Strait area, 2) Sitka-
Cape Ommaney-Chatham Strait area, 3) Noyes Island-west coast of Prince of
Wales Island, 4) inner areas of Southeast Alaska, 5) vicinity of Petersburg, and 6)
Todd-Peril Strait.
(Stout et al. 2001).
More recently, the Herring Stock ID Project (http://www.herringstockid.info/), a
joint effort by ADFG and NMFS to delineate Pacific Herring populations using new
techniques focused on the fatty acid levels in heart muscle, provides information that
Lynn Canal Herring are morphologically distinct from other herring. The principal
investigators of the Herring Stock ID Project recently published a paper detailing
preliminary findings, Otis and Heintz (2003). They determined that herring populations
in Southeast Alaska differ substantially from each other and from those found in the
northern Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea.
Another important aspect of this work is that the authors reveal the limitations on
relying on genetic evidence when it comes to herring. Otis and Heintz (2003) state that
simply using genetic information to distinguish between stocks will not be sufficient.
Reported Atlantic and Pacific herring homing rates range from 66-94 percent
(Tester 1949; Cushing and Burd 1957; Hourston 1982; Wheeler and Winters
23