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Select a Fishery Admin Regions: Southeast Region (1) Central Region (2) AYK Region (3) Westward Region (4) -------------------------------- AK Peninsula Bristol Bay Chignik Cook Inlet (Lower) Cook Inlet (Upper) Copper River Kodiak Kotzebue Kuskokwim Norton Sound Prince William Snd. Southeast AK Statewide Yakutat Yukon

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Overview

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Lingcod are common in marine waters of Southeast Alaska, Prince William Sound, the outer Kenai Peninsula, and the Kodiak area. They occur at depths to 300 m, but more typically inhabit nearshore rocky reefs from 10–100 m. Most spawning occurs during January through March. Lingcod eat many other species of fish, including other lingcod. Male lingcod guard their egg nests and, if left unguarded, the eggs are preyed upon by rockfish, starfish, sculpins, kelp greenling, and cod. Salmon, rockfish, and other lingcod eat young lingcod. Maximum reported age is 25 years. Lingcod appear mostly sedentary and are not known to migrate extensively. Their sedentary habits, coupled to nest-guarding behavior, renders the species easily overfished. Lingcod are prized by commercial and recreational fishermen for their high-quality white flesh. Primary seafood products are fresh and frozen fillets. ADF&G manages all lingcod fisheries in state and EEZ waters off Alaska.

History

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Before 1987 the majority of the commercial lingcod catch in Southeast Alaska was incidental in fisheries targeting other species. Since 1987, the lingcod harvest has become increasingly important both in the direct fishery and as bycatch (Gordon 1994). Management plans adopted beginning in the 1990s in the Southeast and Central Regions have included winter closures to protect nest guarding males, localized closures to prevent overharvest of local aggregations, presumptive conservative guideline harvest levels, apportionment of GHLs among user groups, and minimum size limits (Coonradt et al. 2003).

Management

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The minimum legal size of lingcod is 35” total length or 28” measured from the front of the dorsal fin to the tip of the tail. This size restriction is intended to allow lingcod to spawn at least two years prior to becoming vulnerable to the fishery (Trowbridge 1998). In the Prince William Sound Management Area, the lingcod fishery is split among two districts: the Inside and the Outside Districts. For each district, a conservative GHL is established based on 75% of the recent 10-year average harvest. In Prince William Sound lingcod are primarily caught as bycatch by longline vessels. In Cook Inlet, a GHL was 50% of recent 5-year harvest, and only mechanical jig and hand jig (hand troll) gear may be used to target lingcod. During the open fishing season in Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet, lingcod may be retained as bycatch in other directed fisheries in an amount that does not exceed 20% by weight of the directed groundfish species aboard the vessel.

In the western GOA, lingcod are taken largely incidental to other fisheries. Therefore, no GHLs are set and harvests are small. In the Kodiak and Chignik areas, there are no gear restrictions and lingcod over the size limit may be retained during July 1–December 31. The South Alaska Peninsula is the western range limit of the species, and no specific lingcod regulations exist in that area.

Management regulations for lingcod in Southeast Alaska include a winter closure for all users except longliners between December 1 and May 15, a 27-inch minimum size limit, and allocations between directed commercial, sport, longline, and salmon troll fisheries. The winter closure is intended to protect nest-guarding males. Vessel registration and trip limits are allowed when needed to stay within allocations. A super-exclusive directed fishery for lingcod in the Icy Bay Subdistrict (IBS) was implemented in 2003 (Coonradt et al. 2003).

[For current management information please see individual regional groundfish home pages: Southeast Alaska and Yakutat Area | Cook Inlet & Prince William Sound | Kodiak, Chignik, Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands .]

 

Gear

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Lingcod are the target of a "dinglebar" troll fishery in Southeast Alaska. Dinglebar gear is salmon power troll gear modified with a heavy metal bar to fish for groundfish. As it bounces along the ocean bottom, the bar provides the weight necessary to keep the jigs near the bottom,. Additionally lingcod are landed as significant bycatch in the DSR longline fishery and as a limited bycatch in the halibut fishery (Coonradt et al. 2003). Lingcod may only be taken by mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear in directed fisheries for this species in Cook Inlet.

 

Recent Harvests and Status

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During the 2000–2004 period the average annual lingcod catch in the state-managed commercial fishery was 367,000 pounds (166.8 mt) (historical harvests, 1987-2004). The average numbers of permits and exvessel value during the period were 503 and $280,000 (5-yr avg harvests, 2000-2004).

Conservation and Other Issues

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There are currently no sufficiently accurate abundance estimates for lingcod in Alaska. This lack of adequate population information necessitates what are thought to be very conservative management actions. Such management actions include minimum size limits, winter fishery closures to protect nest-guarding males and total closures in some areas, such as Resurrection Bay along the outer Kenai Peninsula, to allow population rebuilding. However recent declines in CPUE in the directed commercial lingcod fishery in Southeast Alaska, suggested that further restrictions were necessary to prevent stock decline and serial depletion. Subsequently, the guideline harvest limits were reduced for the commercial fishery. Similarly bag and possession limits in the Southeast sport fishery have been reduced in recent years. There is great need for development of stock assessment methods to estimate abundance of lingcod and enhance the understanding of lingcod population dynamics.

[Based on excerpts from the publication, Commercial Fisheries in Alaska, Woodby et al. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Special Publication 05-09, June 2005 (PDF - 1,059K). Information or data on this web page may have been updated and may no longer match the original publication.]

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Last updated: June 11, 2009