Walleye Pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus)
Research

Over 95% of the pollock catch in the Bering Sea Aleutian Islands is taken with pelagic trawls. In the Gulf of Alaska,90% of the catch is also taken using pelagic rawls. In both the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea Aleutian Islands there is a small incidental catch with hook and line and pot gear. Since 1995, a pelagic trawl fishery in Prince William Sound has targeted pollock. In the 5-year period ending 2002 pollock harvests have averaged almost 2.9 billion pounds (1.3 million tons (mt)) in the federal fishery and have varied from a high of almost 118 million pounds (53,000 mt) in the state fishery in 1998 to a recent low of about 2.5 million pounds (1,200 mt) in 2002. The federal fishery had an average of 196 permitted vessels and the catch yielded an average exvessel value of almost $267 million. Counterpart values for the state fishery were six permits and almost $215 thousand.