Fall pollock season underway for Kodiak’s trawler fleet

Kodiak’s pollock fishery is open to trawlers – the fall season kicked off Sept. 1.

There’s more than 90 million pounds of Central Gulf of Alaska pollock allowed for this season’s catch. Last year’s fall catch was about 68 million pounds.

Julie Bonney is the executive director of the Groundfish Data Bank. She said via email that the fall season started out a little slow – but that’s fairly normal for this time of year. Most boats have been staying in the Kodiak area of the fishery, known as Area 630, and last week’s rough weather kept many of them closer to town. 

She says at the current catch rate, the fishery is looking at a closure between Sept. 23 and 25. After that, trawlers may move south near Chirikof Island, Area 620, that fishery closes by regulation on Nov. 1.

Pollock is the white, flaky fish frequently used for fish sticks and fish sandwiches. This is the second pollock season this year – the first season kicked off at the end of January and wrapped up in April; 129,000 metric tons of Gulf of Alaska pollock are allowed for this year’s catch – 26% percent more than last year.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article stated 129,000 metric tons of pollock was for the first season’s catch; that is the annual quota throughout the Gulf of Alaska. KMXT regrets the error. 

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