Fishery Management Plan for the Aleutian Islands District State-Waters and Parallel Pacific Cod Seasons, 2013

Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Management Report No. 12-50, Anchorage

This document provides fishery management information for the 2013 Aleutian Islands District state-waters and parallel Pacific cod fisheries. The Aleutian Islands District state-waters Pacific cod Gadus macrocephalus season is prosecuted in state waters of the Aleutian Islands west of 170° W long. The state-waters Pacific cod season guideline harvest level (GHL) is based on three percent of the federal Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) acceptable biological catch. The state-waters fishery has an A and B season: A season is allocated 70 percent of the GHL and B season is allocated 30 percent of the GHL. Legal gear for the state-waters season includes non-pelagic trawl, groundfish pot, longline, mechanical jigging machine, and hand troll gear. Effective inseason management is dependent upon timely and accurate communication between fishermen, fish processors and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). In the absence of reliable inseason harvest information, ADF&G will adopt conservative management measures which may result in lost fishing opportunity.