Gadus chalcogrammus Pallas, 1814
Alaska pollock
photo by Archipelago Marine Research Ltd.

Family:  Gadidae (Cods and haddocks)
Max. size:  91 cm TL (male/unsexed); max.weight: 3,850.0 g; max. reported age: 28 years
Environment:  benthopelagic; brackish; marine; depth range - 1280 m, non-migratory
Distribution:  North Pacific: from Kivalina, Alaska, to the southern Sea of Japan and to Carmel, California, USA. The occurrence off the northern part of Baja California (Mexico), as reported from Quast and Hall, (1972) (Ref. 6876) is apparently erroneous.
Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 0-0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 38-48; Anal spines: 0-0; Anal soft rays: 33-42. The dorsal fins are widely separated. The pelvic fins have a slightly elongated filament. The lateral line is continuous to about the back end of the first dorsal-fin base; it is interrupted at the read of the body. On the head are lateral line pores. Body color is olive green to brown on the back and becomes silvery on the sides and pale ventrally, often with mottled patterns or blotches.
Biology:  The adults usually live near to the sea floor, but sometimes they also appear near the surface (Ref. 1371). They perform diurnal vertical migrations (Ref. 1371). They mainly feed on krill (Ref. 39882) but they also eat fishes and crustaceans (Ref. 6885). The adults which are spawning are often solely captured for their roe (may have been the case in the first years of the fishery in the U.S., but hasn't been true for some time. In 1994, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council/NOAA enacted an amendment to the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska Fishery Management Plans effectively banning the practice of stripping roe and discarding the carcasses, R. Rogness, pers.comm. April 2022). The meat is used to produce surimi (this is an imitation of shellfish meat) (Ref. 28499). They are traded as fresh fish, boneless flesh, in frozen blocks or as surimi. The fish is cooked in the microwave, steamed or fried in butter (Ref. 9988).
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. (130435)
Threat to humans:  harmless
Country info:   
 


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