2. How big is the Alaska pollock fishery?

3. Is the Alaska pollock fishery sustainably managed?

4. How is Alaska pollock harvested?

5. Is there concern about incidental harvests of non-pollock species (bycatch) in the Alaska pollock fishery?

6. How is the Alaska pollock harvest level established?

7. What happens when the TAC is reached?

8. How does Alaska protect habitat?

9. Who can I contact for more information about the management of the Alaska pollock fishery?

1. What is Alaska pollock?

     Genuine Alaska pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) is a member of the cod family, averaging 1.5 to 2 pounds each. Alaska pollock are a mid-water to bottom dwelling fish usually found between 100 to 300 meters throughout the North Pacific, with the greatest concentration in the Bering Sea. Pollock feed on plankton and other fish.

     With a mild taste and tender, flaky texture, Alaska pollock is the popular ingredient in more than 1,000 consumer products worldwide, including value-added seafood meals; breaded seafood favorites, such as fish sticks, fish sandwiches and fish and chips; and surimi seafood products.

Click here for more culinary and nutrition information about Alaska Pollock.

2. How big is the Alaska pollock fishery?

     The Alaska pollock fishery is the largest U.S. fishery. In recent years, the Alaska pollock fishery has accounted for about 30 percent of all U.S. seafood landings by weight. Since the U.S. established a 200-mile fishing zone in 1976, Alaska pollock harvests have averaged 1.1 million metric tons annually on a sustainable basis.

Click here for more details about Alaska pollock.

3. Is the Alaska pollock fishery sustainably managed?

     Yes. Natural fluctuations in the pollock biomass are cyclical and predictable, and catch limits are raised or lowered based on annual scientific assessments of the size of the pollock biomass. The fishery is closed once established quotas are reached. The fishery management system includes a comprehensive federal fishery observer program, in which observers monitor and report catches and collect information used by scientists in performing annual stock assessments. Fishery managers have closed areas to fishing to minimize fishery impacts on marine mammals and non-pollock fish species.

     All Alaska seafood, whether managed by the State of Alaska or the federal government, is harvested at sustainable levels. There is no overfishing of any species caught in the waters off Alaska. The Alaska pollock fishery has been recognized as sustainable by a number of independent environmental organizations including the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), a third-party certification body created by the World Wildlife Fund.

For more information about the Marine Stewardship Council visit www.msc.org

     The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC) published the following overviews of groundfish stocks in both the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska, including pollock, in their December 2009 newsletter.

Summary status of age-structured GOA species relative to 2009 catch levels (vertical axis) and projected 2010 spawning biomass relative Bmay levels. Note that the 2009 MSY level is defined as the 2009 catch FOFL.

Read the full December 2009 newsletter from the NPFMC here.

Click here for more information about sustainable Alaska seafood.

4. How is Alaska pollock harvested?

     Pollock swim in enormously large schools. Pollock fishing vessels tow cone-shaped, mid-water trawl nets to harvest the resource. These nets are designed to minimize impact to the environment. Federal regulations prohibit “bottom trawling” for pollock in the Bering Sea.

Click here for more information about how Alaska pollock is harvested.

5. Is there concern about incidental harvests of non-pollock species (bycatch) in the Alaska pollock fishery?

     Alaska pollock constitutes almost 99% of the catch in the Alaska pollock fishery, making it one of the “cleanest” fisheries in the world. The pollock harvest is fully utilized as fillets, surimi seafood, roe and fish meal, and much of the small amounts of incidentally harvested species are utilized as well.

     In the Alaska groundfish fishery, which includes pollock, cod, flounder and sole, certain non-groundfish species, including salmon, are not allowed to be retained if they are caught incidentally. In the case of salmon, incidental catches can be kept and donated to hunger relief programs. New rules coming into effect could also close the pollock fishery if incidental catches of salmon reach a numerical cap set by fishery managers.

Click here for more information about bycatch.

6. How is the Alaska pollock harvest level established?

     The Alaska pollock fishery is managed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) working closely with fishery scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Each year, federal fishery scientists review fishery survey data and other scientific information, including historical fishery data and data collected by on-board observers, and produce a stock assessment report. The stock assessment report is peer-reviewed by the Groundfish Plan Team, a group of government and academic scientists, who then recommend an Allowable Biological Catch (ABC) level. The ABC is a small fraction of the total fish biomass. In recent years, the ABC of Alaska pollock has averaged only 15 to 20 percent of total biomass.

     The stock assessment and ABC recommendation then undergo a second round of review by a separate body of scientists called the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), which also makes an ABC recommendation. The Groundfish Plan Team and the SSC recommendations are considered by the NPFMC, which sets the Total Allowable Catch (TAC). The Secretary of Commerce reviews the NPFMC’s action to ensure compliance with federal laws and regulations.

Click here to learn more about stocks and quotas.

7. What happens when the TAC is reached?

     Fisheries management agencies around the world set Total Allowable Catches (TACs) – not just the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC). However, very few agencies use those TACs as unbreakable harvest limits; they are not “hard TACs.” In many other areas of the world, when the TAC is reached the agency will not tell the fleet to stop fishing; it will simply reduce its performance by imposing limits on amounts landed, days at sea, areas of catch, and/or size of gear. But in Alaska, when a TAC is reached, the NPFMC orders the fishing stopped. This is another one of the strengths of the Alaska fisheries management system.

8. How does Alaska protect habitat?

     Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a critical element of ecosystem-based fisheries management, and can be used to control exploitation rates of target species, protect spawning and nursery areas, improve sustainable yields, reduce bycatch of non-target species, protect benthic habitat from disturbance by fishing gear, ensure against uncertainties, and conserve genetic diversity, among other objectives. Fishery managers have closed pollock fishing in large areas of the ocean to minimize competition between fishing vessels and marine mammals that might prey on pollock. This ecosystem-based approach to managing the Alaska pollock fishery is an example of progressive fisheries management.

     In total, there are over 40 named marine protected areas in waters off Alaska, encompassing thousands of square miles. For example:

• 571,000 square nautical miles of seabed are closed to bottom trawling.
• Commercial salmon fishing is prohibited in more than 1.5 million square nautical miles of ocean space.
• Approximately 58,000 square nautical miles are closed to mitigate impacts to Steller sea lions.
• The Aleutian Islands Habitat Conservation Area encompasses 277,100 square nautical miles.

Click here for more information about habitat protection.

9. Who can I contact for more information about the management of the Alaska pollock fishery?