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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 2008, pollock made up 59.8% of the average groundfish catch off Alaska.  The pollock catch for 2008 was 1.04 million metric tons (t), down approximately 26% from 2007.

The next major species, Pacific cod, accounted for 229,370 t or 13.2% of the total 2008 Alaska groundfish catch.  The Pacific cod catch was up about 1.7% from a year earlier.

The 2008 catch of flatfish, which includes yellowfin sole, rock sole, and arrowtooth flounder was 315,860 t, up about 22.7% from 2007.

Other important species (% of total 2008 catch) are sablefish (0.8%), rockfish (2.6%), and Atka mackerel (3.5%).