Commercial Fisheries Overview
Kodiak Management Area
Overview
The Kodiak Management Area (KMA) is located in the western Gulf of Alaska south of the latitude of Cape Douglas (58°52' North latitude) and east of Imuya Bay (156°20'13" West longitude) near Wide Bay on the Alaska Peninsula. The marine waters around Kodiak are among the most productive in the North Pacific. Offshore upwelling combines with abundant freshwater runoff to make near shore waters rich in nutrients. There are over one hundred species of marine fish native to the KMA, including Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii and five species of salmon, including chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, sockeye O. nerka, pink O. gorbuscha, chum O. keta, and coho O. kisutch. Commercial herring and salmon fisheries in those waters surrounding the Kodiak Archipelago and the northern Alaska Peninsula are managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Kodiak. Commercial fishing and processing account for 55% of the private sector work force. During the commercial salmon fishing season (approximately June through September) up to 5,000 people may be involved in the KMA commercial salmon fishery.