This week, the intrepid men and women of the Bering Sea Wild Alaska Pollock fishery will once again begin catching and processing Wild Alaska Pollock in the 2024 A Season. Awaiting the fishermen is a more than 10 million metric ton (that’s more than 22 BILLION pound) biomass that spawns near Dutch Harbor/Unalaska in February and March. Females within that biomass are now developing the precious roe products that, once processed, will be delivered to overseas markets, primarily Korea and Japan. Not to be overlooked is the Gulf of Alaska Wild Alaska Pollock fishery that will be fishing on a separate spawning biomass, mostly in the waters between Kodiak Island and the mainland of Alaska and around the Shumagin Islands.
F/V Caitlin Ann heads to the fishing grounds.
This year’s A season Gulf quota is just over 90,000 mt. Combined, fishermen in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska will catch close to 650,000 mt of Wild Alaska Pollock that will be made into approximately 200,000 mt of high-quality frozen products (including around 15,000 mt of roe), in addition to fish meal and fish oil that allows them to use almost the entire catch. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the People of Wild Alaska Pollock and the efficiency of the fishing and processing operations that this will be accomplished in about 70 days. Last year, the peak of the Bering Sea A season fishery occurred around March 10th, where they recorded an astounding 63,000 mt of Wild Alaska Pollock across all the sectors in one week. The fishermen will be catching primarily 6-year-old fish that should produce good product yields when processed.
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