Short answers, pulled from the story.
The common name plaice covers four distinct species within the flatfish family Pleuronectidae. These include the European, American, Alaskan, and scale-eye plaice.
The European plaice lives on sandy bottoms across the European shelf. Its range extends geographically from the Barents Sea down to the Mediterranean.
American plaice reach a maximum reported age of 30 years. They appear brown or reddish with rougher skin texture than their European cousins.
In 2005, total allowable catch limits in the Bering Sea were reached before May ended. Most fisheries do not target Alaska plaice directly but many get caught as bycatch while trawlers hunt other bottom fish.
Current status places them outside safe biological limits globally. Only one out of eight recognized stocks remains harvested sustainably as of 2006.