- Sablefish

Estimated Population: unkown

Ways to identify this species:  dark greenish black on their backs and light grey on their bellies

Biology

• Sablefish are much cod like but not related.   The largest sablefish on record was 47inches(120cm) and weighed 125lbs (57kg).
  

• They range from the Bering Sea down both sides of the Pacific to central Baja, Mexico in the Eastern Pacific and as far south as southern Japan in the Western Pacific.
  

• Juveniles live near the surface, are pelagic, and move to deep water when they’re about a year old. Adult Sablefish live in waters from 600 feet to 4,000 feet. They’re found on muddy bottoms and in or near underwater canyons. Small fish feed primarily on invertebrates and include fish in their diet as they mature.

Threats

• Overfishing is the single largest threat to Sablefish populations. Current management does not allow overfishing and overfishing is not occurring.
  

• The unknown impacts of global warming is also a threat to Sablefish and all cold water species of the North Pacific.

Sablefish are a highly prized food fish in Japan, high in oil content with sweet white meat. There is virtually NO recreational fishery for Sablefish. The commercial catch come from both bottom trawl and longline gears. They are high in long-chain omega3 fatty acids, low in PCB’s – dioxins – and mercury. Because of its high oil content, most Americans eat Sablefish after it has been smoked. The commercial fishery in Alaska lands over 30 million pounds of Sablefish annually.