FishWatch

Harvesting Pacific cod

Pacific cod support important commercial fisheries from the Gulf of Alaska to Northern California. Pacific cod are typically harvested along with several different groundfish species with longlines (hook and line) and bottom trawl gear. Pots (or traps) and jig gear are also used to catch Pacific cod.

These gear types contact the seafloor across many different habitats. Bottom trawl vessels are responsible for the majority of Pacific cod harvest and cause minimal damage when targeting Pacific cod over soft bottoms off the West Coast and the Gulf of Alaska. Trawls can have negative impacts in areas where cod are associated with living structural habitats, such as corals and sea whips. Some areas are closed to certain gear types to protect sensitive habitat and organisms.

Measures restricting the type of gear fishermen may use and when and where they may fish reduce bycatch of other species in the Alaska Pacific cod fisheries. There are also limits on the amount of Pacific halibut that can be incidentally caught in trawl and hook-and-line fisheries. Longlines are known to catch seabirds incidentally, but current measures are reducing seabird bycatch.

Off the West Coast, fishermen follow a number of management measures to reduce bycatch:

• Area closures, reduced trip limits, and non-retention rules to minimize impact to overfished rockfish.
• Gear restrictions, including minimum trawl mesh sizes, small footrope regulations, and the mandatory use of selective flatfish trawl nets off the coasts of Oregon (north of 40 degrees 10 minutes N. lat) and Washington.
• Variable catch limits to encourage fishing with gears and in areas with less bycatch.

Bycatch is also closely monitored under the West Coast groundfish trawl catch share program.

Management

Who’s in charge? The North Pacific Fishery Management Council develops regulations for the Alaska Pacific cod fisheries; the Pacific Fishery Management Council develops regulations for the fisheries off Washington and Oregon. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for approving and implementing these regulations.

Current management: In Alaska waters, Pacific cod fisheries are managed separately, but similarly, in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands and in the Gulf of Alaska. Fishermen must have a permit to participate in these fisheries, and the number of available permits is limited to control the amount of fishing. Every year, managers determine how much Pacific cod can be caught and then allocate this catch quota among groups of fishermen. Catch is monitored through record keeping, reporting requirements, and observer monitoring.

Groundfish Fishery Management Plan for the Bering Sea Aleutian Islands

• Over 10 percent of the allowable catch is allocated to the “Community Development Quota Program,” which benefits fishery-dependent communities in western Alaska; the rest is allocated among the various fishing sectors based on gear type, vessel size, and ability to process their catch.

Groundfish Fishery Management Plan for the Gulf of Alaska

• Total allowable catch is allocated by gear type and processing sector in the western and central Gulf of Alaska and by area (90 percent to the inshore sector and 10 percent to the offshore sector) in the eastern Gulf of Alaska.
• Fishermen must retain all of their Pacific cod catch.

Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan

Pacific cod are rarely available in large numbers to be caught in the groundfish fishery off the West Coast. Managers use recent historical harvest numbers to set precautionary limits on annual catch for this population. The West Coast groundfish trawl fishery is now managed under a trawl rationalization catch share program. Managers establish annual catch limits based on the health of each fish stock and then allocate a share of this catch limit to individual fishermen or groups of fishermen. Fishermen can decide how and when to catch their share – preferably when weather, markets, and business conditions are most favorable, allowing the fishery the flexibility to be more environmentally responsible, safer, more efficient, and more valuable. The goal is to allow fishermen to catch more of the healthy target stocks without increasing their harvest of overfished stocks.

Annual Harvest

Pacific cod is the second largest commercial groundfish catch off Alaska and virtually all of the United States. Pacific cod is caught mostly in Alaska waters. Pacific cod harvests from the U.S. West Coast average only 1 percent of total U.S. harvest. Total landings of Pacific cod in 2010 were nearly 540 million pounds, an increase of about 10 percent from 2009.

Economy

The Pacific cod fishery is important to the economy of coastal Alaskan communities. It is the second largest groundfish fishery in Alaska (after pollock). 2010 landings were valued at almost $147 million.

Although the majority of catch is in Alaskan waters, Pacific cod catch is an important component of the northern West Coast commercial fishing fleet’s annual economic stability. Smaller vessels, especially those closer to markets on the West Coast, can add value to their catch by bleeding and gutting landed Pacific cod prior to placing them into the fish hold.

RECREATIONAL

Recreational fishing for Pacific cod in Alaska is minor compared to commercial fishing, and mainly takes place in state waters (within 3 miles of shore). According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, recreational fishing for Pacific cod has grown in recent years, catching over 36,500 pounds in 2010. Recreational fishermen follow state regulations.