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Walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) is a key species in the Alaska groundfish complex and a target species for one of the world's largest fisheries. Walleye pollock produce the largest catch of any single species inhabiting the 200-mile U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. Pollock is a semipelagic schooling fish widely distributed in the North Pacific Ocean with largest concentrations found in the eastern Bering Sea.

Pollock are considered a relatively fast growing and short-lived species and currently represents a major biological component of the Bering Sea ecosystem. In the U.S. portion of the Bering Sea including the Aleutian Islands region, three stocks of pollock are identified for management purposes.

Pollock in the Gulf of Alaska are managed as a single stock independently of pollock in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. The separation of pollock in Alaskan waters into eastern Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska stocks is supported by analysis of larval drift patterns from spawning locations, genetic studies of allozyme frequencies, mtDNA variability, and microsatellite allele variability.

During 2010, pollock made up 55.8% of the total groundfish catch off Alaska.  The pollock catch for 2010 was 888,520 metric tons (t), up approximately 3.7% from 2009.

The 2010 catch of flatfish, which includes yellowfin sole, rock sole and arrowtooth flounder, was 291,790 t or 18.3% of the total 2010 Alaska groundfish catch, up about 8.4% from 2009.

Pacific cod accounted for 250,320 t or 15.7% of the total 2010 Alaska groundfish catch.  The Pacific cod catch was up about 9.5% from a year earlier.

Other important species (% of total 2010 catch and % change from 2009) are:  Atka mackerel (4.5%, down 5.3%),
sablefish (0.7%, down 9.3%), and rockfish (3.1%, up 15.7%).