Profile updated on 8 March 2024

SUMMARY

SUMMARY

IDENTIFICATION

SCIENTIFIC NAME(s)

Gadus macrocephalus

SPECIES NAME(s)

Pacific cod, Треска

COMMON NAMES

Pacific cod, cod, gray cod, P-cod, codfish

Pacific cod in the eastern North Pacific are distributed from the Pacific Rim and southward to Southern California (Gustafson et al. 2001). In Alaska, significant migration of Pacific cod is known to occur within and between the Eastern Bering Sea (EBS), Aleutian Islands (AI), and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) regions (Shimada and Kimura 1994), and genetic studies indicate significant differences between spawning stocks in the EBS and GOA (Drinan et al. 2018)(Spies et al. 2019). Within the region, there is some genetic differentiation and some cross-migration of Pacific cod between the GOA and EBS but it is managed as a single stock (Hulson et al., 2023).

Further investigation on the genetic stock structure is needed to better understand the spawning and feeding periods between the GOA and EBS stocks (Hulson et al., 2023).

The Pacific cod resource is exploited by a multi-gear fishery (including trawl, longline, pot, and jig components) and is managed under the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) within the groundfish plan. Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska are assessed on an annual stock assessment schedule to be concurrent with availability of new survey data (Hulson et al., 2023).


ANALYSIS

Strengths
  • Management of the Pacific cod fishery in the Gulf of Alaska is highly precautionary. Catch limits (TACs), which are for the Federal fishery only, are consistently set well below the advised upper limit on harvests (ABC) (Hulson et al. 2023). 

SCORES

Management Quality:

Management Strategy:

10.0

Managers Compliance:

10.0

Fishers Compliance:

10.0