Fishery Management Plan for the Kodiak Area State-Waters Pacific Cod Season, 2013

Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Management Report No. 12-47, Anchorage

This document provides an overview of parallel and state-waters Pacific cod Gadus macrocephalus fisheries and summarizes regulations governing the 2013 Kodiak Area state-waters Pacific cod season. The Kodiak Area state-waters Pacific cod season for pot gear is scheduled to open seven days after closure of the Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA) federal/parallel Pacific cod pot gear sector A-season. The Kodiak Area state-waters Pacific cod season for jig gear is scheduled to open 48 hours after closure of the CGOA federal/parallel Pacific cod jig gear sector A-season; however, if the CGOA jig gear sector has not closed by March 15 the state-waters jig gear season may open pending assessment of effort, harvest rate, and remaining federal quota. Legal gear for the state-waters Pacific cod season is limited to pot, mechanical jigging machine, and hand troll gear. No more than 60 pots or five mechanical jigging machines may be operated from a vessel. The 2013 Kodiak Area state-waters season Pacific cod guideline harvest level (GHL) is 13.58 million pounds; pot and jig vessels are each allocated 50 percent of the total GHL or 6.79 million pounds.