Atlantic Pollock
Atlantic Pollock
Pollachius virens
Saithe, Green cod, Boston bluefish
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Sourcing Summary
Atlantic pollock is a member of the cod family but distinguished from cod by its greenish hue, paler belly, and brownish green back. Atlantic pollock are larger, slightly darker flesh, and have higher oil content than Alaskan pollock, which is actually a different species. Atlantic pollock is low in saturated fat and is an excellent source of protein, vitamin B12, phosphorus, and selenium. The flesh is firm and white, and has a sweet, delicate flavor. It is sold whole, in fillets, and steaks that are fresh, frozen, or smoked.
Harvest Methods
Wild
Product Forms
Fresh
- Fillets
- Whole
Frozen
- Fillet
- Whole
Flavor
Texture
Oil
Health & Nutrition
Nutrition facts
- Calories92.00
- Total Fat1.00g
- Cholesterol71.00mg
- Sodium86.00mg
- Carbohydrates0.00g
- Protein19.00g
Recommended Servings per Month
- Men4+
- Women4+
- Kids 6-124+
- Kids 0-54+
Atlantic pollock are a member of the cod family, distinguishable by their greenish hue and darker flesh, and a small chin barbell similar to that of a catfish. Atlantic pollock grow quickly until they reach sexual maturity, which is typically between ages three and six. They live up to 23-years-old, growing more than three feet in length and weighing up to 35 pounds.
Atlantic pollock spawn on hard, stony, or rocky seafloor areas from November through February, spawning multiple times during one season. Once released and fertilized, the eggs rise into the water column to hatch. Adult Atlantic pollock have a closed swim bladder, which they naturally fill with gas to maintain buoyancy.
Smaller Atlantic pollock feed on small crustaceans and fish, while larger populations feed mainly on fish. They are visual hunters, foraging primarily in daylight. Atlantic pollock are prey to a variety of fish, including: spiny dogfish, monkfish, and other pollock.
Atlantic pollock are found throughout the coastal and continental shelf region of the North Atlantic. In the Northwest Atlantic, pollock range from Greenland to North Carolina in both inshore and offshore areas. Atlantic pollock swim in schools and are believed to travel extensively between the Scotian Shelf and Georges Bank and to a lesser extent, between the Scotian Shelf and Gulf of Maine. They are found at temperatures ranging from 0° to 10°C (32° to 50 ̊F) and depths to 400 meters. Pollock eggs and larvae are found in the water column, while juveniles inhabit inshore waters, moving offshore as they grow older and larger. When inshore, juveniles school in the open water at low tide, and then scatter and hide in intertidal seaweed beds during high tide. Adults live offshore and live in the water column although they can also be found near the ocean floor usually near sand, mud, rocks, and vegetation.
- WildScience:
The Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), as well as other independent and academic organizations, conduct regional research monitoring fish populations, testing gear, and conducting tagging experiments.
The most recent stock assessment suggests that research on Atlantic pollock is necessary in certain areas, including:
- Gear information for selectivity and avoidance behavior
- A better understanding of stock identification
- Using additional scientific surveys, or alternative survey approaches, for future stock assessments
- Determining the age of fish
- Determining the magnitude of historical discards
- Assessing the mortality of discards by fishing gear type
- Using party/charter logbooks for determining the age of fish caught in recreational fisheries
A bio-economic model “FishRent” has been developed to evaluate and forecast the impacts of management efforts. It integrates the economics of multiple fleets, impact of fishing on stock development, and the interplay of space and time between fleets and fish stocks to study the biological and economic effects of current operations.
Management:NOAA Fisheries and the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) manage the US Atlantic pollock fishery. Atlantic pollock have been managed under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan since 1986. This collective plan covers 20 stocks from 13 different species. Grouping these species together allows the NEFMC to manage these mixed fisheries more effectively than if individually managed. Once decimated by overfishing in the 1980s and in the early 1990s, measures under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan have allowed populations to rebound from overfishing. These measures include:
- Permitting requirements
- Time and area closures to limit fishing pressure and protect spawning pollock and habitat
- Annual catch limits of all groundfish that can be caught
- Minimum catch sizes
The Plan also establishes an optional catch share program for pollock and other New England groundfish. This program allows fishing vessels to fish together in sectors and allows fishers more control over when, where, and how they decide to fish as well as the ability to specifically target stocks that are not overfished. The catch share program exempts these sectors from many gear and area restrictions otherwise restricted to fishers outside the program. However, those sectors must stop fishing once their sector catches their predetermined allotment of fish. Fishers not in a sector or involved in the catch share must fish under regulations that limit the amount of groundfish they can catch, where they can fish, as well as the number of days they can fish.
New England fishers must also follow a number of management measures to reduce bycatch in the groundfish fishery including the Harbor Porpoise and Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plans. These plans restrict where, when, and how gear can be set. In addition, these plans require the use of acoustic deterrent devices called “pingers” to prevent marine mammal entanglement in nets.
There is a small recreational fishery for US Atlantic pollock and there are no regulations governing the amount that can be caught by recreational vessels – though anglers must adhere to minimum catch size requirements. Regulations allow for an allocation of the yearly pollock quota to the recreational fishery if the recreational catch in federal waters exceeds five percent of the overall catch.
Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is responsible for managing pollock stocks in Canadian waters. DFO manages fisheries through the implementation of Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMP). Drafted by the DFO in collaboration with stakeholders, IFMPs set total allowable catch limits for pollock caught in Canadian waters.
Impact on Stock
Atlantic pollock matures quickly and has high reproduction rates, which are characteristics that make its inherent vulnerability to fishing pressure low.
Although the Canadian pollock fishery was historically overfished, it is currently recovering. In the United States, the Atlantic pollock fishery is rather small but considered healthy. Norwegian pollock stocks are also stable and healthy. In Iceland, overfishing is occurring and the Atlantic pollock stock status is poor, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Habitat Impacts
The gear used to catch Atlantic pollock varies by region, but consists primarily of bottom trawls, bottom gillnets and Danish seines. Bottom trawls and Danish seines can heavily impact the seafloor and damage ocean habitat while the purse seines that are predominant in the small Norwegian fishery have little contact with the seafloor.
Bycatch
Bycatch levels in the Canadian, Norwegian, and Iceland pollock fisheries remain unknown, although the risk is considered to be moderate based on the gear used, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Bottom gillnets risk ensnaring marine animals, and have been a high concern in both the U.S. and Canada due to documented incidents where protected species were caught. In addition, lost gillnets in the eastern Atlantic have entangled non-targeted fish long after they’ve been abandoned.
Management Effectiveness
Management measures in the U.S. as well as the North Sea or Northeast Arctic regions of Norway are considered highly effective. They include area closures, size limits, gear restrictions, dockside monitoring, logbook reporting, catch quotas, and observer coverage. In Iceland and Canada, extensive management measures are in place but total allowable catch levels have still been set higher than scientific recommendations. Management effectiveness in these countries continues to be a moderate concern.
Origin | Harvest Method | Sustainability Ratings | FIP Source |
---|---|---|---|
Arctic Ocean - Northeast | Bottom Trawls | ||
Arctic Ocean - Northeast | Gillnet | ||
Arctic Ocean - Northeast | Purse Seine | ||
Atlantic Ocean - Northeast (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Barents Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Canada | Bottom Trawls | ||
Canada | Gillnet | ||
Canada - Atlantic | Bottom Longline | ||
Denmark - North Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Denmark - North Sea (MSC) | Gillnet | ||
Denmark - Skagerrak Strait (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Denmark - Skagerrak Strait (MSC) | Gillnet | ||
Faroe Islands | Pelagic Trawl | ||
Faroe Islands (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Faroe Islands (MSC) | Handlines and Hand-Operated Pole-and-Lines | ||
Faroe Islands (MSC) | Longline | ||
Faroe Islands (MSC) | Pelagic Trawl | ||
France (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Germany - North Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Greenland - Barents Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Iceland (MSC) | Longline | ||
Iceland (MSC) | Nephrops Trawl | ||
Iceland (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Iceland (MSC) | Danish Seine | ||
Iceland (MSC) | Gillnet | ||
Iceland (MSC) | Handline | ||
Ireland (FIP) | Bottom Gillnet | ||
Ireland (FIP) | Bottom Trawls | ||
North Sea (MSC) | Danish Seine | ||
North Sea (MSC) | Pair Seine | ||
North Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
North Sea (MSC) | Pair Trawl | ||
North Sea, West of Scotland and Rockall, Kattegat and Skagerrak | Bottom Trawls | ||
Northeast Arctic - Barents and Norwegian Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Norway (MSC) | Hook and Line | ||
Norway (MSC) | Danish Seine | ||
Norway (MSC) | Purse Seine | ||
Norway (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Norway (MSC) | Gillnet | ||
Norway - Barents Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Norway - North Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Norway - North Sea (MSC) | Danish Seine | ||
Norway - North Sea (MSC) | Hook and Line | ||
Norway - North Sea (MSC) | Longline | ||
Norway - North Sea (MSC) | Purse Seine | ||
Norway - North Sea (MSC) | Gillnet | ||
Norway - North Sea (MSC) | Pot/Trap | ||
Norway - Norwegian Sea (MSC) | Gillnet | ||
Norway - Norwegian Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Norway - Norwegian Sea (MSC) | Hook and Line | ||
Norway - Norwegian Sea (MSC) | Purse Seine | ||
Norway - Norwegian Sea (MSC) | Danish Seine | ||
Russia - Barents Sea (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
Russia - Sea of Okhotsk (MSC) | Midwater Trawl | ||
Unassessed Origin | Unassessed Fishing Methods | ||
United Kingdom - Scotland (MSC) | Bottom Trawls | ||
USA - Georges Bank | Bottom Trawls | ||
USA - Georges Bank | Set Gillnets | ||
USA - Georges Bank | Handlines and Hand-Operated Pole-and-Lines | ||
USA - Gulf of Maine | Bottom Trawls | ||
USA - Gulf of Maine | Set Gillnets | ||
USA - Gulf of Maine | Handlines and Hand-Operated Pole-and-Lines | ||
USA - Gulf of Maine & Georges Bank (MSC) | Otter Trawl | ||
USA - New England (FIP) | Trawl |
Name | Country | State/Province |
---|---|---|
Airson Seafood | Iceland | |
Beyond the Sea Sales and Marketing, Inc. | United States | Massachusetts |
Catanese Classic Seafood | United States | Ohio |
Euclid Fish Company | United States | Ohio |
FaroeLandia Ltd. | Denmark | |
Foley Fish | United States | Massachusetts |
Ice-co Foods | Iceland | |
Intercity Packers Meat & Seafood | Canada | British Columbia |
John Nagle Co. | United States | Massachusetts |
Maine Shellfish Company | United States | Maine |
New Hampshire Community Seafood | United States | New Hampshire |
Nordic Catch | United States | California |
North Atlantic, Inc. | United States | Maine |
Northeast Oceans | United States | Massachusetts |
O'Neil Fisheries Limited | Canada | Nova Scotia |
Pacific Harvest Seafoods | United States | California |
Raw Seafoods | United States | Massachusetts |
Red's Best | United States | Massachusetts |
Royal Hawaiian Seafood | United States | California |
Salties Imports | Canada | Alberta |
Samuels & Son Seafood Company, Inc. | United States | Pennsylvania |
Scottish Seas | United Kingdom | |
Sea Born Products, Inc. | United States | Massachusetts |
Sea to Table, USA | United States | New York |
Southstream Seafoods, Inc. | United States | Rhode Island |
The Lobster Place Wholesale Seafood | United States | New York |
Tradex Foods Inc. | Canada | British Columbia |
True Fin | United States | Maine |
Visscher Seafood B.V. | Netherlands | |
Walden Local, Inc. | United States | Massachusetts |
Acknowledgements
- Environmental Defense Fund
- NOAA Fisheries
- Seafood Watch Program
- SeafoodSource