February 6, 2024 — The state-water cod fishery for pot gear boats of 58 feet or less in the Dutch Harbor Subdistrict opened Thursday, Feb. 1 at noon. Those harvesters have a limit of 60 pots per vessel and a guideline harvest level of a little more than 44 million pounds.
That’s the largest harvest level the fishery has ever seen. Last year’s was the second biggest at just over 38 million pounds.
State fisheries managers said they expect about 20 to 25 boats to register for the fishery. The Dutch Harbor Subdistrict is the largest state managed Pacific cod fishery in Alaska and was founded in 2014.