Intrinsic rate of increase is unknown. In the Bering Sea, females reach age at maturity at about 4 years old. Maximum-recorded age is reported to be 31 years, with very few Pollock surviving beyond age 16 (NPFMC 1999).

In the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), age at maturity is variable from year to year. For periods of 3 to 4 years, Pollock appear to mature early or late. Estimates of age at 50% maturity range from 3.7 years in 1984 to 6.1 years in 1991, with an average of 5.0 years. A 2002 assessment of the GOA population notes that these changes in maturation age are opposite of what would be predicted by life history theory: “A decline in abundance would be expected to result in earlier age at maturity. There is no biological explanation for the apparent increase in maturity at age following the decline in Pollock abundance in the 1980s" (Dorn et. al. 2002).

Growth rate of Gulf of Alaska Pollock has been estimated to be 0.34 (Dorn, pers. comm., 2005). The maximum age observed in the GOA is 22 years (Dorn et. al. 2004).

Since more than 95% of the U.S. Pollock supply is likely from the Eastern Bering Sea fishery (NMFS 2005), where females reach age at maturity at 4 years, we chose to award 3.00 points here.

Pollock aggregate to spawn. The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska fisheries target pre-spawning aggregations (Dorn, pers. comm., 2005).

Pollock are distributed throughout the North Pacific from Kivalina, Alaska to Carmel, California, and from Alaska to the southern Sea of Japan, including the Sea of Okhotsk (Fishbase 2005; Chaffee et al. 2004). We consider this to be a medium-sized range, as this species is not found throughout an entire ocean basin or hemisphere but is also not restricted to one coastline.

A 2001 report to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported that Pollock exhibit fluctuations in abundance caused by long-term climatic changes (e.g., the Pacific Decadal Oscillation). It presented climatic and abundance models, which predict that the total catch of Pollock and other commercially important species in the North Pacific, such as Sardines, Pacific Salmon, and Jack Mackerel, will decrease, and then increase in the years between 2000 to 2015 (Klyashtorin 2001).

In the 1960s, which was before the Pollock fishery had developed, abundance was lower than it has been in all subsequent years (Dorn et al. 2004; Ianelli et al. 2004). A major ecosystem shift occurred in the 1970s that enabled Pollock to become dominate in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska (NRC 1996).

Pollock are highly fecund. Fecundity increases with size. Females can produce up to 1,000,000 eggs, which they broadcast spawn every 2 to 3 days over a 30-day period. Older, bigger females produce 5 to 10 times more eggs than younger females (Chaffee et al. 2004).

The population size of Eastern Bering Sea Pollock, as measured by the biomass of the exploitable population (ages 3 and up), has increased overall since the late 1970s. Following a drop from an estimated 12.5 million metric tons (mt) in 1985 to 6 million mt in 1991, biomass rebounded and has since varied around 10 to 11 million mt. However, fishery scientists predict that population biomass in 2005 is about 8.14 million mt, the lowest since 1992, and population declines will continue in the short term (Ianelli et al. 2004).

According to all surveys, Pollock in the Gulf of Alaska have declined over the last 20 years. Spawning biomass of female Pollock peaked in 1985 and has dropped since, despite a small increase in 1994. Managers predict that the spawning population of Pollock will increase in 2005 from recent lows to 37% of the unfished spawning biomass, and then decline again. Poor recruitment to the spawning population since 2000 is likely to be the cause of this decline (Dorn et al. 2004).

The population size of Eastern Bering Sea Pollock, as measured by the biomass of the exploitable population (ages 3 and up), has increased overall since the late 1970s. Following a drop from an estimated 12.5 million metric tons (mt) in 1985 to 6 million mt in 1991, biomass rebounded and has since varied around 10 to 11 million mt. However, fishery scientists predict that population biomass in 2005 is about 8.14 million mt, the lowest since 1992, and population declines will continue in the short term (Ianelli et al. 2004).

According to all surveys, Pollock in the Gulf of Alaska have declined over the last 20 years. Spawning biomass of female Pollock peaked in 1985 and has dropped since, despite a small increase in 1994. Managers predict that the spawning population of Pollock will increase in 2005 from recent lows to 37% of the unfished spawning biomass, and then decline again. Poor recruitment to the spawning population since 2000 is likely to be the cause of this decline (Dorn et al. 2004).

Pollock are not listed as overfished (NMFS 2004a).

There have been major concerns that fisheries for Pollock, Atka Mackerel, and Pacific Cod have adversely affected Endangered Steller Sea Lion populations by extracting too much of the sea lions’ prey out of the ecosystem (NMFS 2001). From the 1960s to 2000, the Endangered western population of Steller Sea Lions decreased from an estimated size of 170,000 to 180,000 individuals to a low of 34,600 individuals. Recent data indicate, however, that the population grew 6 to 7% from 2000 to 2002, and another 6 to 7% from 2002 to 2004. While this trend towards increasing population size is hopeful, overall, abundance has declined substantially, and pup production continues to decline (NMFS 2004b).

In 2003, the National Research Council concluded, “existing data on the more recent period of decline (1990 to present) indicate that bottom-up hypotheses invoking nutritional stress are unlikely to represent the primary threat to recovery” (NRC 2003). Since we cannot say for certain that Pollock abundance is supporting or is not supporting Steller Sea Lion populations, we neither subtract nor add here.

Both the Eastern Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska populations of Pollock are functionally normal, with no declines in the mean ages of catches or in the proportions of older fish in the populations (Dorn et al. 2004; Ianelli et al. 2004). In the Eastern Bering Sea, the sex distribution of Pollock currently appears to be equal between males and females. Variability in recruitment causes fluctuations in age-class size, which is characteristic of this species (Ianelli, pers. comm., 2004). The age and sex distributions of the Gulf of Alaska Pollock population are stable, and the sex ratio is close to 1:1 (Dorn et al. 2004).

To catch Pollock, fishing vessels primarily use mid-water (pelagic) trawls, which do little damage to habitat (Chaffee et al. 2004). In 1999, Amendment 57 prohibited the use of non-pelagic trawls in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Pollock fisheries, where the vast majority of Pollock is caught (FR 2000).

Continental-shelf habitats in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska are likely healthy enough to support Pollock populations.

No critical habitat areas for Pollock are being specifically protected using closures or marine reserves. However, there has been no need to close such areas, because managers consider Pollock populations to be healthy (Dorn, pers. comm., 2005). Protecting critical habitat areas of Steller Sea Lions is considered to be a much greater issue, as these populations have been declining over the last thirty years. Managers are addressing this issue with time and area closures that minimize interactions between Pollock fisheries and Steller Sea Lions in their critical habitat areas (Dorn et al. 2004; Ianelli et al. 2004).

Gear effects of mid-water trawls are likely to be minimal.

Gear effects of mid-water trawls are likely to be minimal.

Management of Pollock populations is strong. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) manages fisheries for Pollock under the Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Groundfish and the FMP for Groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska. Management measures include limited entry, seasonal catch quotas, in-season adjustments, time/area closures, gear restrictions bycatch limits, and observer monitoring (Chaffee et al. 2004).

In the Eastern Bering Sea, where the fisheries are concentrated, population assessments indicate that the fisheries are operating at sustainable levels. When the Aleutian Islands population of Pollock declined to low levels of biomass in the late 1990s, managers closed the area to directed Pollock fishing (Ianelli et al. 2004). It was reopened in 2005, after managers determined that the population had rebounded to an average level of abundance (Barbeaux et al. 2004). Managers closely monitor the Gulf of Alaska population, which has lately been at lower than optimal levels of abundance, and have a clearly defined rebuilding strategy (Dorn et al. 2004).

An important question in assessing the NPFMC’s success in meeting its conservation and sustainability goals is whether current conservation measures have relieved the impacts of the Pollock, Pacific Cod, and Atka Mackerel fisheries on the critical habitats of Steller Sea Lions. Earlier analyses determined that the fisheries were likely to jeopardize the foraging success of Steller Sea Lions, which prey on the same species that the fisheries target. While the non-pup population of the Endangered western population of Steller Sea Lions increased from 2000 to 2002 and again from 2002-2004 (representing the first increases in two decades), overall, abundance has declined substantially. Also, pup production continues to decline. Substantial conservation measures have been implemented to protect Steller Sea Lions including fishery-specific closed areas around rookeries and haul-outs, seasonal closures and catch limits. A 1999 measure to temporally disperse potential impacts of the fishery on the sea lions restricts catches of Pollock during the spawning season to 40% of the annual Total Allowable Catch (TAC) in the Bering Sea and to 50% of the annual TAC in the Gulf of Alaska. This measure prevents fishers from taking large numbers of roe-laden Pollock, which are much more valuable than Pollock caught in the non-spawning season, during a short period of time (Dorn, pers. comm., 2005).

Subsequently, Greenpeace, the American Oceans Campaign, and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), claiming that the managers were not adequately addressing the problem. The court issued a remand order in December 2002, which ordered NMFS to draft a Biological Opinion that documented how conservation measures avoided jeopardy and adverse modification to Steller Sea Lion populations and their habitats. In other words, NMFS had to show how conservation measures have reduced competition between fisheries and foraging Steller Sea Lions in areas where they overlapped spatially and temporally. This thorough, follow-up analysis was completed on June 19, 2003 (NPFMC 2003). There has been no legal action taken against the NMFS since then (Dorn, pers. comm., 2005).

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) recently completed a four-year-long review of the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands fishery for Pollock and certified the fishery under their stringent guidelines. During the review and since the certification in February 2005, there has been outcry from members of the conservation community (e.g., Alaska Oceans Network) that the fishery does not comply with the MSC guidelines (Chaffee et al. 2004). The Gulf of Alaska fishery has also undergone the assessment process required for MSC certification and is expected to be certified shortly (MSC OP 2005).

Since fisheries in areas with depleted populations of Pollock are either closed or contribute only a small percentage to the annual Pollock catch, we chose to base our score only on the management of the Eastern Bering Sea fisheries, which account for the vast majority of landings. Although the decline of Steller Sea Lions remains a major issue in the management of this fishery, we determined that management is currently effective and chose to award a score of 3.00 here.

Pollock fishery managers closely monitor catches and the status of populations. They undertake three annual fishery-independent surveys of the Eastern Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska populations and triennial surveys of the Aleutian Islands population. There is 100% observer coverage on large trawlers (greater in length than 125 ft) in the Eastern Bering Sea, where the majority of the annual Pollock catch occurs, and 30% coverage of most of the other vessels involved in the fishery (Dorn et al. 2004; Ianelli et al. 2004).

The level of mixing among the Bering Sea populations and possibly the Gulf of Alaska population requires more investigation (Chaffee et al. 2004). Overall, however, there is a very high level of monitoring and science occurring in the Pollock fisheries management.

Management explicitly addresses the effects of the Pollock fishery on the amount of prey available to Steller Sea Lion populations. There have been reductions in the proportion of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) that may be taken from critical Steller Sea Lion habitats, and seasonal TACs are in place to spread the fishery out temporally (Chaffee et al. 2004; Dorn et al. 2004; Ianelli et al. 2004).

No recovery plan is needed, because Pollock are not overfished.

Overcapitalization in the Bering Sea Pollock fishery was a major problem until several measures by the North Pacific Council alleviated it. The adoption of quota systems and cooperatives and the lack of explicit economic subsidies have considerably reduced this problem since the late 1990s (Chaffee et al. 2004).

Before the council took action, overcapitalization had exacerbated several problems in the fishery, including bycatch, economic instability, negative impacts on Steller Sea Lions, and enforcement. In the mid-1990s, the inshore processing plants (and the catcher-trawl vessels that supplied them) and the offshore factory-trawl vessels were capable of catching and processing more than two times the Total Allowable Catch of Pollock. A license limitation program, which prevented new vessels from entering the Pollock fishery, and the creation of cooperatives among the fishers and processors have since helped to reduce excess capacity. Conservation stakeholders, however, continue to be dissatisfied with the 1998 American Fisheries Act, which was pushed through Congress as a rider to an appropriations bill by Pollock industry representatives and has had unknown ecological impacts (Chaffee et al. 2004)

Pollock fisheries are highly selective. Discard rates of Pollock in the Eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) have ranged from 11% of the total Pollock catch in 1991 to 1.3% in 2001 (Ianelli et al. 2003). Most of the bycatch is juvenile Pollock or Pollock too large to process (NPFMC 2002).

Discard rates are also low in the Gulf of Alaska Pollock (GOA) fishery. From 1997 to 2002 in the GOA, more than 95% of catches consisted of Pollock, and only 2.1% of captured Pollock were discarded. Arrowtooth Flounder and Pacific Cod constituted about 60% of the bycatch by weight. The other 40% includes sharks, skates, smelts, flatfish, and jellyfish (Dorn et al. 2004).

Bycatch rates of prohibited species, which must be returned to the sea when caught (e.g., Pacific Halibut and Herring, Steelhead Trout, and Salmon), are generally low. In the BSAI and GOA, bycatch of Pacific Halibut and Herring in 2001 ranged from 0% to 0.4% of the total catch. However, the scale of the Pollock fishery is so large that even low bycatch rates can translate into high numbers of incidentally caught fish (AFSC 2002).

Bycatch of juvenile salmon in Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries is a concern, especially for Chinook Salmon (AFSC 2005; Witherell et al. 2002). In 2002, however, a review of salmon bycatch in these fisheries found that it was not likely to be contributing to the decline observed in western Alaska Chinook Salmon populations. From 1990 to 2001, groundfish fisheries reduced the western Alaska Chinook Salmon run by less than 2.7% and the Chum Salmon run by less than 0.2% (Witherell et al. 2002).

In 2003 and 2004, however, bycatch of these species increased greatly. Preliminary evidence indicates that the bycatch reduction measures implemented in the mid-1990s, in the form of time/area fishery closures, have instead exacerbated salmon bycatch in recent years. Currently, the council is considering ways to mitigate Chinook and Chum Salmon bycatch, which include adjusting area closures based on current salmon bycatch data and developing an individual vessel salmon bycatch limit (AFSC 2005).

Although salmon bycatch is a major concern for Pollock fisheries management, there is no evidence that it is contributing to the decline of Chinook or Chum Salmon populations.

The Pollock fishery does not have bycatch of Threatened, Endangered, or Protected species.

The discard rate of non-targeted species in U.S. Pollock fisheries has been below 10% since 1992 (NPFMC 2002). In 1999, Amendment 57 prohibited the use of bottom trawls in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Pollock fishery. In its first year, this measure reduced bycatch mortality of Pacific Halibut (by 100 metric tons), Red King Crabs (by 3,000 animals), C. bairdi crabs (by 5,000 animals), and C. opilio crabs (by 150,000 animals; DiCosimo, pers. comm., 2003).

All Pollock that is caught in all fisheries must be retained and counted toward the Total Allowable Catch, the annual limit on the quantity of Pollock extracted by fisheries. In 2002, fishing vessels in the Bering Sea discarded about 21,000 metric tons of Pollock, which was less than 1.5% of the total Pollock catch that year. Fisheries targeting Pacific Cod, Yellowfin Sole, and Rock Sole were each responsible for about 30% of these discards, the Pollock fishery was responsible for about 5% of the discards, and the remaining 5% occurred in other fisheries (Ianelli et al. 2003).

There was recently a regulatory change for fisheries that do not target Pollock. In the past, the National Marine Fisheries Service required that vessels in groundfish fisheries that do not target Pollock must not exceed the Maximum Retainable Amount (MRA) of Pollock, which is a percentage of their total catch. At that time, MRA was enforceable at any time during a trip, so fishers could not retain Pollock before they had enough of the targeted species to count the Pollock against. The change in regulation transferred enforcement from anytime during the fishing trip to enforcement only at the time of offload, which will likely decrease regulatory discards of Pollock throughout the trip (Federal Register 2004).