The National Standard Guidelines for Fishery Management Plans published by NOAA Fisheries require that a stock assessment and fishery evaluation report be prepared and reviewed annually for each fishery management plan.
Walleye pollock is a semi-pelagic schooling fish widely distributed in the North Pacific Ocean. Pollock in the central and western Gulf of Alaska are managed as a single stock independently of pollock in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
Pacific cod is a transoceanic species, occurring at depths from shoreline to 500 m. The southern limit of the species’ distribution is about 34° N latitude, with a northern limit of about 63° N latitude.
The Other Rockfish (OR) complex in the Gulf of Alaska is assessed on a biennial stock assessment schedule to coincide with the availability of new trawl survey biomass estimates.
The Gulf of Alaska northern and southern rock sole assessment is conducted on a 4-year assessment cycle following the stock assessment prioritization schedule. During years when a full assessment is not completed, a partial assessment is conducted.
Flathead sole are distributed from northern California, off Point Reyes, northward along the west coast of North America and throughout the Gulf of Alaska and the Eastern Bering Sea, the Kuril Islands, and possibly the Okhotsk Sea.