Pacific cod in the eastern North Pacific are distributed from the Pacific Rim and southward to Southern California (Gustafson et al. 2000). Pacific cod belonging to this “North American” stock group (Grant et al. 1987) have been understood to be more genetically homogeneous relative to their western North Pacific counterpart, known as the “Asian” stock group. Significant migration of Pacific cod is known to occur within and between the Eastern Bering Sea (EBS), Aleutian Islands (AI), and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) regions. However, a body of research performed since Grant et al.’s 1987 analysis indicates that genetically distinct stocks do exist in the EBS and the AI region (Spies 2012)(Spies et al. 2023).

Beginning in 2013, these two stocks have been assessed independently, and Pacific Cod in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) are no longer managed as a single combined unit. Following this differentiation, separate FishSource profile groups have been created for the Aleutian Islands and Eastern Bering Sea Stocks. There is an additional Alaskan profile group for Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska assessment unit. There are also commercially managed fisheries in Canada in Hecate Strait, Queen Charlotte Sound, and the West Coast of Vancouver Island.

For Pacific cod in the western North Pacific, see Asian stock group profiles: Sea of Okhotsk, Petropavlovsk-Komondor, W Bering Sea, Yellow Sea, Honshu, and Hokkaido.