The cold clean waters off Alaska support huge stocks of whitefish, many of which are in high demand in seafood markets worldwide. The term "whitefish" is synonymous with "groundfish" or "bottomfish", and refers to several species of white-fleshed fishes that live on or near the bottom of the ocean. The scientific term for this lifestyle is "demersal", which distinguishes them from fishes that swim throughout the water column, called "pelagic". While there are dozens of species of whitefish, this Buyer's Guide produced by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, deals with the nine species of greatest interest to the seafood trade:
Common Name
Other Names
Scientific
Name
Alaska pollock
Walleye, pollock, snow
cod
Theragra chalcogramma
Pacific cod
Gray cod, true cod,
Alaska cod
Gadus macrocephalus
Sablefish
Black cod, butterfish,
gindara (Japanese)
Anoplopoma fimbria
Pacific halibut
Alaska halibut
Hippoglossus stenolepis
Yellowfin sole
Alaska dab
Limanda aspera
Dover sole
Slippery sole, Alaska
sole
Microstomus pacificus
Rex sole
Longfin sole, witch
flounder
Glyptocephalus zachirus
Rock sole
Rock flounder, roughscale
sole
Lepidopsetta bilineata
Flathead sole
Paper sole, Alaska sole
Hippoglossoides elassodon
All nine of these Alaska whitefish species are sustainably harvested from the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. Here are some important statistics about Alaska:
Alaska has 47,300 miles of coastline, more than all of the other 49 states put together
Alaska has over 795,000 square miles of continental shelf, 70% of the U.S. total
the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska is 28% of the U.S. total
more than half of all seafood harvested from American waters originates in Alaska
