April 8, 2020 — The state of Alaska wants input on plans to distribute nearly $24.5 million in federal disaster relief funds for stakeholders and communities hurt by the 2018 Gulf of Alaska cod crash.
Better make it quick – the deadline to comment is Friday, April 10.
Cod is Alaska’s second-largest groundfish harvest (after pollock), but the Gulf stock dropped by 80% in 2018 following a three-year heat wave that disrupted food webs, fish metabolism and egg survival on the ocean floor. It combined to push down cod catches to just 28.8 million pounds, compared to nearly 142 million pounds the previous year.
The catch in 2019 was cut again to just over 27 million pounds; for 2020, the Gulf of Alaska was closed to cod fishing from 3 to 200 miles offshore.
Federal data show the number of boats targeting Gulf cod has dwindled to just 64, down from 275 six years ago.