To the Board of Fisheries through Chairman Johnstone: I support any regulatory change that would add Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) as a forage fish, and to be managed as such. The existing administrative code (5 AAC 39.212.) fails to include all species of forage fish indigeneous to the waters of Alaska, and Pacific herring are a keystone species. The board recognizes that abundant populations of forage fish are crucial to sustain healthy populations of commercially important salmon, groundfish, halibut, and shellfish species. Please add Pacific herring to the State of Alaska's Forage Fish Mangement Plan. Failure to do so will compromise the State of Alaska's Pacific herring stocks.

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