Rockfish

Estimated Population: unkown

Ways to identify this species:

Biology

• Rockfish are one of the most diverse genuses of bony fishes found anywhere in the world with over 90 species. They are found from the intertidal out to more than 1,000 feet down. Because of their huge diversity some species only grow to a few inches in total length and weigh 1/4lb or less while other species can attain weights greater than 40 lbs and reach 4 feet in length.

• Rockfish are some of the longest lived of all fish species (a Thornyhead having been aged at over 200 years old). Most species are slow growing, late to mature, and live to be very old. There are species that show a high level of site fidelity never leaving their home reef their entire life and other species that are semipelagic and spend considerable time in the water column.

Threats

• Fishing is by far the biggest threat to rockfish. Because of their life history, long lived and slow growing, populations of rockfish can not withstand high exploitation rates. It is very easy to overfish and deplete rockfish populations and very difficult to rebuild them once depleted. The Bocacciao rockfish is currently in a rebuilding plan that is estimated to take over 200 years to return the population to healthy levels.

• The second greatest threat after overfishing is the destruction of their habitats by bottom trawling. Many species of rockfish live in close association with deep water corals and sponges. These deep sea habitats can be destroyed by a single pass of a large net being dragged across the seafloor targeting rockfish. Bottom trawling has been compared to clear cutting forests because of the damage it causes to deep sea habitats.

Rockfish are one of the most sought after species in the North Pacific by both commercial and recreational fishermen. More than 50 species are landed by commercial fishermen and the fillets are usually marketed under the name Pacific Red Snapper. The Yelloweye Rockfish is considered to be one of the most desirable because of it's size and the quality of its fillet. One scientific showed that the average age of Yelloweye Rockfish landed by Alaskan longline fishermen is 45 years. There are Thornyhead rockfish swimming around that were out there long before Abraham Lincoln was President.