NMFS closes Central Gulf of Alaska directed pot cod fishing for 2026

Pot-gear vessels lost directed Pacific cod fishing in the Central Regulatory Area of the Gulf of Alaska at noon Alaska time Wednesday, Oct. 7, when the National Marine Fisheries Service closed the sector through Dec. 31, as announced in its Oct. 5 bulletin. Directed pot fishing for cod in the federal Central Gulf is done for 2026.

The sector's 2026 total allowable catch was 5,752 metric tons. Alaska Regional Administrator Jonathan M. Kurland set a directed fishing allowance of 5,742 metric tons, held back the remaining 10 metric tons as incidental catch for other groundfish fisheries, and found the allowance "will be or has been reached," according to the Federal Register notice. Incidental cod remains subject to federal maximum retainable amounts, which apply at any time during a trip and cap how much cod a vessel targeting something else may keep.

NMFS skipped the usual notice-and-comment period because the most recent catch data for the sector only became available Oct. 5. Shannon Bettridge, acting director of the agency's Office of Sustainable Fisheries, signed the rule Oct. 6.

The same sector was closed twice earlier this year, effective Jan. 20 and March 2, to protect its A-season allowance, with a Feb. 17 reopening in between. At a Sept. 8-9 meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's groundfish plan teams, NMFS's Abby Jahn reported that high Pacific cod prices had drawn new entrants into the Central Gulf fixed-gear fishery, where full use of the allowance was expected.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed the Prince William Sound parallel pot season at the same hour, in coordination with the federal closure; the parallel longline and jig seasons there remain open. Cook Inlet's state-waters cod season, reopened Sept. 1 to all legal gear including pots, runs until Dec. 31 or until its harvest limit is reached. Hook-and-line catcher vessels 50 feet or longer lost directed Central Gulf cod fishing on Sept. 1.

Questions about the closure go to Jahn, 907-586-7228.