Pacific Cod

About the Species

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

Status

• There are four stocks of Pacific cod: Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and West Coast:
  • 2017 stock assessments in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska indicate that Pacific cod are not overfished and not subject to overfishing. 
  • Although there was a 2017 stock assessment for the Aleutian Islands stock, data are insufficient to determine the population status at this time.
  • The West Coast population of Pacific cod has never been formally assessed, but is not subject to overfishing based on 2016 catch data.
• In Alaska, scientists and managers determine the population status of Pacific cod based on estimates of spawning biomass—a measure of the number of females in the population that are able to reproduce.
  • Estimated biomass has fluctuated over the past few decades; the stock increased rapidly, peaked in the 1980s, then declined slightly and stabilized.

Appearance

• Pacific cod are also known as gray cod because of their color—they’re brown or grayish with dark spots or patterns on the sides and a paler belly.
• They have a long chin barbell (a whisker-like organ near the mouth, like on a catfish) and dusky fins with white edges.

Biology

• Pacific cod live for 20 years or less.
• They can grow up to 6 feet in length.
• Females are able to reproduce when they’re 4 or 5 years old, when they are between 1.6 and 1.9 feet long.
• Pacific cod spawn from January to May on the continental shelf edge and upper slope in waters 330 to 820 feet deep.
• Females can produce more than 1 million eggs when they spawn.
• Pacific cod school together and move seasonally from deep outer and upper continental shelf areas (where they spawn) to shallow middle-upper continental shelf feeding grounds.
• They feed on clams, worms, crabs, shrimp, and juvenile fish.

Where They Live

• Pacific cod are found in the coastal North Pacific Ocean, from the Bering Sea to Southern California in the east and to the Sea of Japan in the west.
• They are less common in Central California and are rare in Southern California.

Management

• NOAA Fisheries and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, manage the Pacific cod fishery in Alaska.
• Managed under the Gulf of Alaska Groundfish Fishery Management Plan:
  • Total allowable catch is allocated by gear type and processing sector in the western and central Gulf of Alaska and by processing sector (90 percent to the inshore sector and 10 percent to the offshore sector) in the eastern Gulf of Alaska.
• Managed under the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Groundfish Fishery Management Plan:
  • 10.7 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.
• In the Gulf of Alaska, Being Sea, and Aleutian Islands:
  • Fishermen must have a permit to participate in these fisheries, and the number of available permits is limited to control the amount of fishing.
  • 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.
  • Fishermen must retain all of their Pacific cod catch.
• NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Fishery Management Council manage the Pacific cod fishery on the West Coast.
• Managed under the 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 managed under a trawl rationalization catch share program.