Most pollock fish comes from the cold waters of the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska. It is the largest fishery in the United States by volume, with commercial landings from the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska totaling over 3 billion pounds in 2023, valued at roughly $525 million. If you’ve ever eaten a fish sandwich from McDonald’s, Burger King, or Long John Silver’s, you’ve almost certainly eaten Alaska pollock.
Two Species, Two Oceans
The word “pollock” actually refers to two distinct species found in different parts of the world. Alaska pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) is by far the more commercially important of the two. It’s a member of the cod family, typically 12 to 20 inches long and weighing 1 to 3 pounds, with speckled coloring that helps it blend in near the seafloor. This is the species behind most of the pollock you’ll find in grocery stores, fast-food restaurants, and frozen fish products worldwide.
Atlantic pollock is a separate species found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, most commonly on the western Scotian Shelf and in the Gulf of Maine. In the U.S., it’s wild-caught from Maine to Virginia and managed by the New England Fishery Management Council. Atlantic pollock has a darker back and silvery sides compared to its Pacific cousin. It’s a much smaller fishery and far less likely to show up on your plate unless you’re buying fish in the northeastern U.S. or Europe.
Where Alaska Pollock Is Caught
Alaska pollock is distributed throughout the North Pacific Ocean, but the largest concentrations are in the eastern Bering Sea, the stretch of water between Alaska and Russia. The Gulf of Alaska is the second major fishing ground. Together, these two areas account for the vast majority of the U.S. catch. Pollock also inhabits waters around the Kuril Islands near Japan and in the Sea of Okhotsk, where Russian and other fleets harvest it.
These fish live at varying depths depending on the season. In spring, they spread across the continental shelf and slope down to about 900 meters (roughly half a mile deep), in water temperatures just above freezing. During warmer months, they concentrate in a narrower band at depths of 200 to 270 meters and move into slightly warmer water. This seasonal migration pattern shapes when and where fishing fleets operate.
How Pollock Is Harvested
Nearly all Alaska pollock is caught using midwater trawls, massive nets towed through the open water column rather than dragged along the ocean floor. The mouth of a pelagic trawl can be tens of meters wide and tall, designed to filter huge volumes of water and capture fish that are spread thinly through the ocean. The mesh in the forward section of the net is deliberately oversized. Fish won’t swim through the open mesh even though they physically could, so they’re gradually herded toward the back of the net where the mesh gets progressively smaller and eventually retains them.
This behavioral approach to fishing also allows regulators to control what gets caught. By adjusting mesh sizes and trawl design, fisheries managers can reduce the capture of non-target species and undersized fish. It’s one reason the Alaska pollock fishery has maintained relatively strong sustainability credentials.
Sustainability and Certification
The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery holds Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, a widely recognized standard for sustainable fishing. The fishery has been certified since December 2020, with its current certificate valid through March 2026. NOAA Fisheries sets annual catch limits based on population surveys. For 2024, the total allowable catch in the Gulf of Alaska alone was set at nearly 196,000 metric tons.
The fishery is managed with strict quotas that are adjusted each year based on stock assessments. This approach has kept Alaska pollock populations relatively healthy compared to many other global fish stocks, which is part of why it remains the backbone of the American whitefish industry.
Where You’ll Find It on Your Plate
Alaska pollock has mild, white flesh with a light flake, which makes it one of the most versatile commercial fish species. It’s the primary ingredient in imitation crab (surimi) and the go-to fish for breaded fillets in fast food. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Arby’s, Burger King, Long John Silver’s, Del Taco, and White Castle all use wild Alaska pollock in their fish offerings. If you’ve bought frozen fish sticks or breaded fish fillets from a grocery store, there’s a good chance those were pollock too.
So while the fish on your plate may have been packaged in a processing facility anywhere in the world, the fish itself almost certainly started its life in the frigid waters of the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles off the Alaskan coast.