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).