On Jan. 1, the parallel Pacific cod season for pot, jig, and longline gear, opened in the Cook Inlet Management Area.
Although it’s held in state waters, it’s managed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, Fisheries.
Each year, it’s opened by emergency order to match up with the season dates and gear types set by the National Marine Fisheries Service for the another Pacific cod season, held in the nearby federal Central Gulf of Alaska Regulatory Area.
During the parallel fishery, the Cook Inlet Steller sea lion rookery areas at Outer Island and Sugarloaf Island are closed to pot and longline gear for the animals’ protection.
Once the 2017 parallel fishery closes, the state waters pot and jig fisheries, managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, will open in Cook Inlet.
“The total state waters guideline harvest level for the Pacific cod fishery is 3.65 million pounds with 3.1 million pounds for pots, [which is] 85 percent, and about 550,000 pounds for the jig fishery, which is 15 percent of the fishery," said Jan Rumble, area groundfish management biologist.
In the state waters fishery, pot vessels larger than 58 feet are limited to harvesting 25 percent of the total guideline harvest level, or about 900,000 pounds.
Last year, the Pacific cod fishery was open in some state for pot and jig fishing all year long.
The markets for cod are can be quite variable in Homer, making it a challenge for pot fishermen to find stable ways to offload their catch, Rumble said.