North Pacific Fishery Management Council

Managing Fisheries off the Coast of Alaska

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Stock Assessment (SAFE) Reports

North Pacific Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Reports: The Guidelines for Fishery Management Plans published by the National Marine Fisheries Service require that stock assessment and fishery evaluation reports (SAFE) be prepared and reviewed on a periodic basis for each fishery management plan. The SAFE reports are intended to summarize the best scientific information available concerning the past, present, and future condition of the stocks, marine ecosystems, and fisheries under Federal management. Staff contacts are: BSAI Groundfish – Diana Stram, GOA Groundfish – Sara Cleaver, BSAI Crab – Anita Kroska, Scallops – Anita Kroska.

Groundfish SAFEs

2025 Groundfish SAFEs

1998-2024 Historical Groundfish SAFE reports
Halibut Discard Mortality Rates

The lapse in Federal appropriations from October 1 – November 12, 2025 impacted the information available for the Council’s typical process, in that Federal stock assessment authors did not have the time to complete new groundfish assessments as planned, and the Council’s Groundfish Plan Teams and the SSC did not convene to review stock assessments and provide recommendations on harvest specifications. As a result, the GOA and BSAI Groundfish SAFE Reports were not compiled this year. Catch reports for groundfish stocks in the GOA and BSAI were prepared for all stocks except GOA deepwater flatfish, which was scheduled for a harvest projection and completed and reviewed by the SSC in October 2025. These documents are linked below and provide links to the 2024 assessment product (or most recent assessment) for each stock.  In February 2026, the SSC and Council reviewed an updated GOA Pacific cod assessment and related materials, for inclusion in harvest specifications for the remainder of the 2026 fishing year. These materials are included below.

Groundfish Stock Assessment Definitions

Note: Numbers reported in the documents below may not reflect the final catch limits as recommended by the SSC and Council. Groundfish catch limits as recommended by the SSC and Council (OFL, ABC, TAC) can be found here. The final groundfish harvest specifications are published by NMFS and can be found here.

2025 Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI)

2025 Gulf of Alaska (GOA)

Ecosystem Component Species

1998-2024 Historical Groundfish SAFE reports
Halibut Discard Mortality Rates

Crab SAFEs

Note: Numbers reported in the documents below may not reflect the final catch limits as recommended by the SSC and Council. BSAI crab stocks are managed through a State/Federal cooperative management scheme. For more information, see here. 
Crab catch limits as recommended by the SSC and Council (OFL, ABC) can be found here and here.
Final crab TACs as recommended by ADF&G can be found here. 

SAFE ChapterLatest SAFE UpdateNext SAFE Update
IntroductionOct 2025Oct 2026
1 Eastern Bering Sea snow crab
Appendix B
Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Report (Appendix A)
Snow Crab ESP Report Card 2025		Oct 2025Oct 2026
2 Bristol Bay red king crab
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix D
Appendix E
Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Report (Appendix F)
BBRKC ESP Report Card 2025 		Oct 2025Oct 2026
3 Tanner crab
Appendix A
Appendix B 
Appendix C
Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Report (Appendix D) 		Oct 2025Oct 2026
4 Pribilof Islands red king crab – quadrennial
Appendix A		Oct 2025Oct 2029
5 Pribilof Islands blue king crab-quadrennial
Appendix A
Appendix B 		Oct 2025Oct 2029
6 Saint Matthew Island blue king crab – biennialOct 2024Oct 2026
7 Norton Sound red king crabDec 2025Dec 2026
8 Aleutian Islands golden king crabJun 2026Jun 2027
9 Pribilof Islands golden king crab – triennialJun 2026Jun 2029
10 West Aleutian Islands red king crab – triennialJun 2023Jun 2027

SAFE Guidelines – January 2023

Scallop SAFEs

Note: Numbers reported in the documents below may not reflect the final catch limits as recommended by the SSC and Council. Alaska scallop stocks are managed through a State/Federal cooperative management scheme. For more information see here.
Scallop catch limits as recommended by the SSC and Council can be found here. Final scallop guideline harvest levels (GHLs) as recommended by ADF&G can be found here.

Cook Inlet Salmon SAFEs

Note: Numbers reported in the documents below may not reflect the final catch limits as recommended by the SSC and Council. Cook Inlet salmon catch limits as recommended by the SSC and Council (OFL, ABC, TAC) can be found here. 
The final Cook Inlet salmon harvest specifications are published by NMFS and can be found here.