Alaska Pollock

Also Known As

Pollock, Walleye pollock, Pacific pollock

Quick Facts

Region

Alaska

Subsurface water clarity has a major impact on marine ecosystems and commercially important species like Alaska pollock. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.

About The Species

Alaska pollock—also known as walleye pollock—is a key species in the Alaska groundfish complex and a target species for one of the world's largest fisheries. Pollock is a semipelagic schooling fish widely distributed in the North Pacific Ocean with largest concentrations in the eastern Bering Sea.

U.S. wild-caught Alaska pollock is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.

Population Level

Above target population levels for the Aleutian Islands, Eastern Bering Sea, and Western/Central/West Yakutat Gulf of Alaska stocks. The population levels are unknown for Bogoslof and Southeast Gulf of Alaska.

Fishing Status

At recommended levels.

Habitat Impacts

The Alaska pollock fishery uses midwater trawl nets that, although sometimes making contact with the bottom, have minimal impact on habitat.

Bycatch

The Alaska pollock fishery is one of the cleanest in terms of incidental catch of other species (less than 1 percent).

Status

The 2018 stock assessments for the Aleutian Islands, Eastern Bering Sea, and Western/Central/West Yakutat Gulf of Alaska indicate that pollock stocks are not overfished and spawning biomass is estimated to be above the target level for all three stocks.
To assess the health of the pollock population, scientists estimate the female spawning biomass—a measure of the pollock stock’s ability to reproduce.
Regulations for the pollock fishery aim to conserve the spawning population to ensure pollock can successfully reproduce and keep the population size at healthy levels.
The overfished status for the Bogoslof and Southeast Gulf of Alaska stocks is unknown. These areas are also closed to fishing for pollock with trawl gear.
No stocks are currently subject to overfishing.

Appearance

Pollock is a member of the cod family.
They can grow as long as 3 feet but typically reach lengths between 12 and 20 inches and weigh between 1 and 3 pounds.
They have speckled coloring that helps them blend in with the seafloor to avoid predators.

Biology

Alaska pollock grow fast and have a relatively short life span of about 12 years.
As a result, they are generally more productive compared to slower growing, longer living species.
Some pollock begin to reproduce by the age of 3 or 4 and are extremely fertile, so each generation replaces aging or harvested fish in just a few years.
In the spring, pollock migrate inshore to shallow water to breed and feed.
They move back to warmer, deeper waters in the winter months.
The survival of young pollock depends on several factors, such as the availability of food, environmental conditions, and predation.
Their survival rate is highly variable, which can potentially cause large fluctuations in the abundance of pollock in a matter of a few years.
Juvenile pollock eat zooplankton (tiny floating animals) and small fish.
Older pollock feed on other fish, including juvenile pollock.
Many other species—including Steller sea lions and other marine mammals, fish, and seabirds—feed on pollock and rely on them for survival.

Where They Live

Alaska pollock are found throughout the North Pacific Ocean but are most common in the Bering Sea.

Management

NOAA Fisheries and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council manage the Alaska pollock fishery.
Managed under the Groundfish Fishery Management Plans for the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands:
- The Alaska pollock fishery is a great example of how science-based management and monitoring can help ensure the long-term sustainability of the resource.
- The Bering Sea fishery is one of the first U.S. fisheries to be managed with catch shares and is often considered one of the best-managed fisheries in the world.

Related Species

Atlantic Pollock

Pacific Cod

Pacific Whiting

Recreational Fishing Regulations

Commercial Fishing Regulations

Subsistence Fishing Regulations

Management Overview

The United States manages pollock as five separate stocks:

Eastern Bering Sea stock (Unimak Pass to the U.S.–Russia Convention line)
Aleutian Islands stock (Aleutian Islands shelf region from 170 degrees W. to the U.S.–Russia Convention line)
Central Bering Sea–Bogoslof Island stock
Central/Western/West Yakutat stock in the Gulf of Alaska
Southeast Outside stock in the Gulf of Alaska

The American Fisheries Act (1998) established eligibility to participate in the BSAI pollock fishery and permanent allocations of pollock quota among sectors. Community Development Quota groups are allocated 10 percent of Eastern Bering Sea pollock total allowable catch. The remaining TAC is divided up as follows:

50 percent to catcher vessels delivering inshore
40 percent to catcher/processors offshore
10 percent to catcher vessels delivering to motherships

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 (PDF, 455 pages) established that the non-CDQ pollock fishery in the Aleutian Islands is fully allocated to the Aleut Corporation, for the purpose of the economic development in Adak, with a percentage allocated to vessels 60 feet or less in length overall. Since 1992, the Gulf of Alaska pollock has been allocated to reduce potential impacts on steller sea lions. In 2005, Amendment 82 to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area established a framework for the management of the Aleutian Islands subarea pollock fishery.

Science Overview

Alaska Walleye Pollock Research in Alaska

Research and management of Alaska walleye pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) stocks is considered to be world-class and an example of how science-based management can ensure sustainability. Scientists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center collect and analyze the data that managers need to set sustainable catch limits.

Surveying Pollock Populations

We gather information about the number, location, and age of pollock in Alaskan waters during annual surveys using acoustic technology, midwater trawls, and bottom trawls. These data are combined with information collected by fishery observers.

Pollock in the Gulf of Alaska, eastern Bering Sea, and Aleutian Islands are managed as separate stocks based on the results of genetic studies, biological characteristics, and analyses of larval drift patterns from spawning locations.

Early Life Studies

We study factors affecting young pollock survival to recruitment (when they reach a size available to the fishery at around 3 years old). These survival rates can vary dramatically from one year to the next and this affects pollock populations, posing challenges for the fishery and fishery managers. Scientists have linked these ups and downs to variability in environmental conditions during the early life of pollock.

Understanding how young pollock respond to environmental changes helps scientists understand and communicate future uncertainty in population size and hence size of eventual fishing quotas to managers, the public, and fishery stakeholders.

Age and Growth

We determine the age of individual fish to provide data for age-structured modeling of populations and continue to develop new techniques to age walleye pollock.

An Ecosystem Approach

Environmental factors affect walleye pollock populations in the Eastern Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska. Prey availability and the number of fish, seabird, and marine mammal predators and their spatial overlap with pollock also have a large impact. Comprehensive scientific observer coverage aboard commercial fishing vessels closely monitors catch and bycatch to help gauge possible impacts of humans and the fishery on the ecosystem. Our scientists work closely with industry and managers to mitigate potential adverse impacts through a variety of conservation and management measures, and by developing appropriate gear modifications.

Each year, a comprehensive ecosystem status report on climate and fishing is compiled in Ecosystem Assessments and Report Cards. These reports are an important step towards achieving the ecosystem-based management goals of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council: to maintain predator-prey relationships, diversity, and habitat, and to monitor effects of climate change.

Walleye pollock. Photo: NOAA Fisheries.

Assessing Past, Present, and Future Pollock Stocks

We create Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation (SAFE) reports to summarize the best available scientific information concerning the past, present, and possible future condition of stocks, marine ecosystems, and fisheries that are managed under Federal regulation, including the walleye pollock fishery. These reports provide information to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council for determining annual harvest levels from each stock; documenting significant trends or changes in the resource, marine ecosystems, and fishery over time; and assessing the relative success of existing state and Federal fishery management programs.