Commercial Fishing Reporting
Commercial Operator's Annual Reports (COAR)

By regulation, the COAR report is due by April 1, 2017 to ADF&G. Please have the COAR report postmarked by Monday April 3rd to avoid disruptions to your fishing operations. If you have any questions please call 907-465-6131 or email shellene.hutter@alaska.gov.

About the COAR Report

The first buyer of raw fish, persons who catch and process fish, and persons who catch and have fish processed by another business are required to file an annual report of their purchasing and processing activities. This report is called the Commercial Operator's Annual Report (COAR) and is due by April 1 of the following year. The National Marine Fisheries Service also requires COAR reports from processing vessels operating in federal waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone.

The COAR reports contain data on seafood purchasing, production, and both exvessel and wholesale values of seafood products. The buying information from COAR is reported by species, area of purchase, condition of fisheries resources at the time of purchase, type of gear used in the harvest, pounds purchased, and exvessel value. The exvessel value in COAR includes any post-season adjustments or bonuses paid after the fish was purchased.

The production information from COAR is reported by species, area of processing, process type (frozen, canned, smoked, etc.), product type (fillets, surimi, sections, etc.), net weight of the processed product, and the first wholesale value.

COAR data can be compiled by ADF&G to meet specific requests. If you are interested in obtaining COAR data please contact the Seafood Industry Coordinator at dfg.seafood-coord@alaska.gov or (907) 465-6131.

COAR Form

Codes for the 2016 Commercial Operator's Annual Report (PDF 614 kB)
Complete COAR Form
- PDF file (PDF 1,321 kB)
- Fillable Word Document (Word doc 2,568 kB)
COAR Forms by Section
- Certification Page, Instructions and Codes (Word doc 192 kB) Required by all
- Salmon Buying and Production (Word doc 862 kB) – Forms A(1-3) and B(1-6)
- Herring Buying and Production (Word doc 313 kB) – Forms C(1-2) and D
- Crab Buying and Production (Word doc 263 kB) – Forms E and F
- Shrimp/Misc. Shellfish/Finfish Buying and Production (Word doc 255 kB) – Forms G and H
- Groundfish Buying and Production (Word doc 458 kB) – Forms I(1-2) and J(1-2)
- Halibut Buying and Production (Word doc 112 kB) – Form K
- Custom Production (Word doc 151 kB) – Forms L(1-2)
- Fish Buying Retro Payments/Postseason Adjustments (Word doc 220 kB) – Forms M(1-2)
COAR FAQs
COAR Example (PDF 366 kB)

Area of Harvest for COAR Buying Forms

On the buying portion of the COAR use the statistical area of harvest for shore based facilities and at-sea operations. See below for an Excel translation table and area specific maps detailing COAR area of harvest based on ADF&G statistical areas.

COAR Areas Based on ADF&G Statistical Areas (Excel file 367 kB)
Kuskokwim, Kotzebue, Yukon and Norton Sound (PDF 1,227 kB)
Prince William Sound, Cook Inlet, and Bristol Bay (PDF 1,437 kB)
Dutch Harbor, Bering Sea, and Adak/Western Aleutians (PDF 711 kB)
Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska Federal Waters (EEZ) (PDF 786 kB)
Kodiak, Chignik, and Alaska Peninsula (PDF 1,252 kB)
Southeast Alaska (PDF 2,037 kB)

Area of Processing for the COAR Production Forms

On the production section of the COAR use the COAR area of processing that corresponds to the port of processing. If unsure of a port’s COAR area of processing, use the translation table and map below. The at-sea fleet will used the area of harvest corresponding to the statistical area of harvest in lieu of the port-based area of processing (as they do not deliver to a port).