Recent genetic analyses have identified a distinction between North American and Asian Pacific Cod populations (DFO 2015).

In Japan, Pacific cod have been separated into three separate management regions: the Sea of Japan, Hokkaido, and the North Pacific off of Honshu, with the majority catch supported by vessels in South Hokkaido and the North Pacific off of Honshu. Capture is achieved mostly by Danish seines, bottom trawls, bottom longlines, gillnets, and trap nets (Chen 2014).