Walleye Pollock

Theragra chalcogramma

Photo contributed by: Daniel W. Gotshall To email him click here.

In-depth Information Regarding this Species

U.S. Range in the Pacific Ocean	Bering Sea to Central California (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Habitat	Midwater to bottom (Love 1996) Offshore (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Depth range (meters)	Surface to 366 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Behavior	School (Love 1996) Lives near the bottom (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
General Temperature Range (°C)	0–10 2.2–5 (most common) (Love 1996)
Maximum Overall Recorded Size (cm)	91.4 (Love 1996, Eschmeyer and Herald and Herald 1983)
Overall Length to Age Ratio (cm/age in years)	30.5/3 61.0/8–12 (Love 1996)
Overall Maximum Age (years)	17 (Love 1996)
Overall Growth Rate	Same for males and females (Love 1996)
Fecundity	20,000–1,750,000 (Love 1996)
Number of Spawns per season	1 per year (Love 1996)
Days to Hatch	9–21 (Love 1996)
Habitat where Juveniles are found	Night on surface (Love 1996)
Length when Larvae Settles out (cm)	3.8–5.1 (Love 1996)
Adult Food Preference	Plankton (Krill, Shrimp, Copepods), Young Pollock (Love 1996)
Market	Soft flesh (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Sold Fresh or Frozen	Frozen (Love 1996)
Style Species is Sold	Roe in Japan Fillets Fish sticks Surimi (Love 1996)
Additional Use of the Species	Fish meal Mink food (Love 1996)

Recent Wild Harvest Data for Oregon
Data from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Year	Total Catch (Pounds)	Ex-vessel Value ( U.S. Dollars)
1989	47	5
1990	31	3
1991	340	47
1992	120	24
1993	455	148
1994	33	4
1995	91	19
1996	0	0
1997	0	0
1998	2	1

Photograph courtesy of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering To link to their webpage click here.

Photo contributed by: Douglas F. Markle Department of Fisheries & Wildlife Oregon State University

© 2003 Stephen Sempier