The US Pacific cod fishery is often hailed as one of the best-managed fisheries in the world, and the Alaska Pacific cod harvest accounts for over 95 per cent of all cod, regardless of species, caught in the United States.
The total allowable catch (TAC) for the Alaska cod fishery in 2012 is 53,348 metric tons, an increase of nearly 10 per cent over last years quota and 40 per cent over the 2010 TAC. The TAC is carefully calculated each year to ensure that all Alaska seafood is sustainably harvested. Following earlier openings in the Alaska cod fishery, fishermen still have 176,901 metric tons of the TAC remaining for the fall season.
Demonstrating Alaskas intensive management, Alaska cod harvests are allocated by both gear type and location to ensure the long-term health of the State of Alaskas cod fisheries. Alaska cod are caught using four gear types: hook and line, pot, trawl, and mechanical jigs, with virtually all fish either frozen or chilled at-sea. Alaskas Pacific cod fisheries extend from the Bering Sea to Southeast Alaska.
Alaska's Fall Pacific Cod Season Open
US - The fall or B season for the Alaska cod jig fishery in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands opened last week on 31 August 2012. Fisheries for hook and line, pot, and trawl gear opened in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska on September 1st, 2012.
