. Commercial fisheries review. Fisheries; Fish trade. HERRING ROE: Alaska's Fast-Growing Specialty Food Industry Jerrold M. Olson The use of Alaska herring as a commer- cial food product dates to the early days of the new Territory. Beginning in the late 1800s, herring salteries were built rapidly along Alaska's coast; by 1928, more than 70 were in operation. The annual production of salt-cured herring peaked in 1922 at 36 mil- lion pounds. Because of poor market conditions in the 1930s, production declined from a high of million pounds in 1933 to million pounds in 1939. The decline c
. Commercial fisheries review. Fisheries; Fish trade. HERRING ROE: Alaska's Fast-Growing Specialty Food Industry Jerrold M. Olson The use of Alaska herring as a commer- cial food product dates to the early days of the new Territory. Beginning in the late 1800s, herring salteries were built rapidly along Alaska's coast; by 1928, more than 70 were in operation. The annual production of salt-cured herring peaked in 1922 at 36 mil- lion pounds. Because of poor market conditions in the 1930s, production declined from a high of million pounds in 1933 to million pounds in 1939. The decline continued during the next decade; by 1947, only 2 million pounds of salt-cured herring worth $280,000 were packed. In 1950, when production had dropped to 264,000 pounds, valued at $42,000, the salted herring industry went out of existence. Interest Reborn Interest in Alaska herring as a food was revived in 1964 to meet the demand of a Japa- nese market for a new kind of specialty prod- uct--salt-cured herring roe. In that year, 23,000 pounds of roe were produced for ex- port to Japan. The product sold for as high as $7 a pound on the Japanese retail market. In 1965, production increased fivefold. Nearly 200,000 pounds of roe worth over $300,000 were shipped to Japan. By 1968, almost 300,000 pounds of herringroe valued at more than $500,000 were produced in 7 Alaska processing plants.!/ In that year, the whole- sale value of this specialty food was 82 per- cent of the value of all Alaska herring prod- ucts--although only 40 percent of the herring catch of million pounds was used in the roe industry. The steps used in processing herring roe for shipment to Japan are shown in figures 1 through 9. Note: Herring roe production reportedly is "big" this season in the Kenai Peninsula area. About 1,500 tons of herring were caught in Kachemak Bay and Resurrection Bay; processors in Seward and Homer are swamped. Herring roe is being processed in Anchorage for the first time.
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