2012 South Alaska Area State-Waters Pacific Cod Jig Season Opens March 19th

The Western Gulf of Alaska (WGOA) parallel Pacific cod (P.cod) season will close to jig gear on Saturday, March 17th at 12:00 noon. According to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G), the state-waters P.cod season for vessels using jig gear will open 48 hours later in the South Alaska Peninsula Area on March 19th at 12:00 noon unless delayed by weather. For vessels participating in the WGOA parallel P.cod jig fishery, all P.cod must be delivered prior to participating in the South Alaska Peninsula Area state-waters season.

Jig vessels may not operate more than 5 mechanical jig machines with more than 30 hooks per line. Jig vessels are allocated 15 percent of the total South Alaska Peninsula GHL or 2.3 million pounds.

All vessels participating in the South Alaska Peninsula Area state-waters Pacific cod season may not exceed 58 feet in overall length. Vessel operators must obtain an exclusive state-waters vessel registration from ADF&G prior to participating in the state-waters season.

As a reminder, vessels may not participate in a state-waters P.cod season and any other P.cod season at the same time. Vessels registered for the state-waters season must invalidate their state-waters registration before that vessel may participate in any other P.cod season.

Weather Delay
The state-waters season opening for jig vessels will be delayed for 24 hours if the National Weather Service (NWS) 48-hour marine weather forecast for Area 155 issued at 4 a.m. on March 19th contains gale force wind warnings (35 knots or higher). If the jig gear season opening is delayed and the following day’s 4 a.m. 48-hour forecast again contains gale warnings, the season opening will be delayed an additional 24-hours. Season opening delays may continue on a rolling 24-hour basis for up to seven days beyond the initial opening date. After seven days, the jig season will open regardless of the NWS marine weather forecast for Area 155.

For more information, contact the Alaska Department of Fish & Game in Kodiak at (907) 486-1840. You can also contact in season management staff at the National Marine Fisheries Service at (907) 586-7228 for more information on fishing outside of state waters.