Pacific hake (or Pacific whiting, Merluccius productus) occurs in the waters of the NE Pacific from northern California to northern British Columbia. Migration is generally from inshore northern California waters to off-shore British Columbia as waters warm in the spring and summer, with older individuals migrating further than their younger counterparts. Other isolated populations occur in the Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound, and the Gulf of California, and are not included in this analysis (Edwards et al. 2022).

This is a jointly managed stock between the US and Canada.