Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Alaska (Pacific) cod - freezer longline

Certified as sustainable in February 2006.

Summary

Species:  Cod (Gadus macrocephalus)
Location:  Pacific Ocean - eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands
Fishing methods:  Bottom hook and line gear (longline)
Vessels: Freezer/Longliner vessels 124–180 feet in length
Number of fisheries:  1

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More about cod

Pacific cod in the Bering Sea are fast growing fish and reach an average length of 19 cm in 1 year. By 12 years they may exceed 89 cm. The stocks are generally exploited from age 3 onwards.

More about the fishing methods

The longline fishery for Pacific cod is conducted with stationary lines with baited hooks. Usually the gear is set in a straight line with the average set being about 15 km long. On average such a set would deploy about 20,000 hooks at depths of 50 to 90 fathoms.

Fishery tonnage

48,000 metric tonnes

Commercial market

Approximately 65% of the frozen, headed and gutted Pacific cod produced by longline freezer vessels is sold into European markets; an additional 20% is sold into Japanese markets, with most of the remainder sold to Chinese (10%) and US (5%) markets.