"Alaska Pollock"

The National Standard Guidelines for Fishery Management Plans published by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) require that a stock assessment and fishery evaluation (SAFE) report be prepared and reviewed annually for each fishery management plan (FMP). The SAFE reports are intended to summarize the best available scientific information concerning the past, present, and possible future condition of the stocks and fisheries under federal management. The FMPs for the groundfish fisheries managed by the Council require that drafts of the SAFE reports be produced each year in time for the December North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) meetings.

Measured 20,000 fish and collected 1,100 otoliths over seven weeks at sea.

Working in western reaches of US and possibly discovered a new fish species.

We've found 72 fish species and 207 species of invertebrates, while seabirds find us.

What it’s like to spend seven weeks in remote waters.

Aleutian Islands seafloor home to diverse species.

Watching an ecosystem transform firsthand.

This year the authors’ recommended model is different from last year’s in that we include age 1 pollock. The change in results due to this model adjustment is minimal, but adding the age ones provides consistency among the three pollock stock assessments for the Alaska Region and allows for easier comparisons among different modeling platforms such as Stock Synthesis 3. The 2014 summer bottom trawl survey estimate, 2013 finalized catch estimate, and 2014 fishery catch estimate were included in this year’s assessment. Note that the 2014 summer bottom trawl estimate (85,316 t) was nearly double the 2012 estimate (44,281 t) which was the lowest on record estimated for the area west of 170° w longitude. As in the previous five years there has been no directed fishing for pollock in the Aleutian Islands. As of October 4 there has been only 2,348 t of bycatch, primarily in the arrowtooth flounder and Pacific cod fisheries.

Stock assessment and fishery evaluation reports archive from 1998–2012.