Ecosystem study unlocks the mystery of black cod survival

A juvenile black cod is tagged and released back into the ocean. (NOAA photo)Over the past couple of decades black cod — or sablefish — has become one of Southeast Alaska’s most commercially-important species. Longliners target them in deep waters off the continental shelf, during the same season as halibut.
Although stocks are strong, biologists don’t fully grasp black cod population ecology. A research partnership in Sitka hopes to change that.
Just about all commercial