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SEASONAL AND GEOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FISHERY RESOURCES

California Current Region - VI. Rockfish

David Kramer and Paul E. Smith

The purpose of this report on the rockfish sport fisheries. The fisheries and r e source, f amily , as for others others in the northeast Pacific are described in t his s e ries (Kramer and Smith, 1970a,b , c, d, briefly at the conclusion of this report.

1971), is to describe the seasonal and geo­ Sebastes Most Abundant Genus graphic characteristics oftheir spawning pop­ ulations on t he basis of summarized data on The most abundant genus in the rockfish t he abundanc e of their larvae in the decade larva collections of the California Coopera­ 1951 - 60. The organizations, area of inves­ tive Oceanic Fisherie s Investigations (Cal­ tigation, and treatment of the data were pre­ COFI) is Sebastes which, until recently, has sented in the first report of the serie s. been enumerated only as "rockfish", with no differentiation t o species. Our knowledge of The r ockfishes of the northeast Pacific are adult spawning, t herefore, is based on t otal of major importance in the comme rcial and rather than individual species distributions. sport fishe r i es of the United State s (Phillips, Some species, and the times and locations of 1957,1958). The family consists of so many their spawning, are discussed below. species , most of them in the genus Sebastes, that they are usually grouped only under the The rockfish family in the northeast Pa­ common name " r ockfish" in the commercial cific extends from the Gulf of Alaska to Baja landing r eports of the State of California. The California (Phillips, 1957; Ahlstrom, 1961). family cons i sts of three genera, of which The CalCOFI surveys have delimited the dis ­ Sebastes has at least 55 species; Sebastalobus tributions of rockfish larvae to their south­ has two species, and one. In Cal­ ernmost extent and offshore off almost all of ifornia, three species of Sebastes comprise as indicated in the figure. the major portion of t he commercial catch of They have not delimited the populations sea­ rockfish f or human consumption, about six ward off California nor in their northern­ species f orm the gre atest part of the most extent where, in the limits of the sur ­ food fisher y, and two c ontribute chiefly to the veys, they have been found as far offshore as sport fishery . The single species of Scor­ 250 miles and as far north as the California­ paena c ontributes t o both the commercial and Oregon border.

The authors are Fishery Biologists, NMFS Fishery-Oceanography Center, 8604 La Jolla Shores Drive, P.O. Box 271, La Jolla, Cali­ fo rnia 92037.

COMMERCI AL FISHE RIES REVI EW Reprint No . 9 15

40 ROCKFISH LARVAE

1951-60

AREA OCCUPIED o < 15 % OCCURRENCE • 3" 15 % OCCURRENCE SHADED AREA 725 % OCCURRENCE

Percent occurrence of rockfish larvae, Sebastes spp. in 1951-60 on the survey pattern of the California Cooperat ive Oceanic Fisheries Invest i ­ gations (CalCOFI). Each circle, line or dot represents a pooled stat istical area (see Kramer and Sm ith 1970a )...... H» 42

Plankton data on rockfish are for larvae fr om Cape Col n et t to Punta San Juanico only. Their eggs are not planktonic because (Moser, in press) . The rosy, S. rosaceus the genus Sebastes is ovoviviparous - -the fe­ group, is a summer spawner with a southern male is externally fertilized and incubates the distribution off Baja California. This latter eggs until the young are born upon extrusion group is related tothe few species of Sebaste s into the water (Phillips, 1958). The genera off the coast of Chile; from this it has been Sebastalobus and Scorpaena lay their eggs in hypothesized that the group, at one time, may gelatinous floating masses (Pearcy, 1962; have formed a continuous population from Phillips, 1958) which, to our knowledge, have North to South America (personal communi ­ never been collected in CalCOFI tows. cation, E. H. Ahlstrom, Flshery-Oceanogra­ phy Center, NMFS, La Jolla, Caltforma). Summarized data for 1951-60, January through March, are for the area from Point The narrowing of the offshore band of Conception, California, to Point San Juanico, spawning centers off Baja California in July, Baja California. The maj or centers of ­ and the separation of centers 1n Octoberl/ , ing (25 percent or more occurrences of lar­ may be indications of spawning by species, vae inplankton hauls) are delimited seaward species groups, and/ or subpopulations. Data inthe survey pattern but not by the northern­ are not sufficient yet to form definite opinions most extent of the surveys. The areas of on these points. Barrett, Joseph, and Moser major spawning are about the same during (1966) in a study on the analysis of blood those months with a slight spread seaward groups of the genus Sebastes ( = Sebastodes) with time. Most of the surveys in April clarified a differentiation of species pairs through July extended northward to the areas which lends support to their distlOction a s off San Francisco. In these months, the species. spawning centers extended farther seaward The Fisheries off southern and central California but were not delimited seaward or northward. The California Department of Fis h and Definitive Spawning Periods Game reports three kinds of fisheries in which different species of Sebas tes are mos t domi ­ Recent identifications of some species of nant (Frey, 1971). The first, from Eureka t o rockfish larvae collected on a number of Cal­ Santa Barbara, is for a nima l food in which COFI surveys indicate that species or species unmarketable, t r awl - c aught ro c k f is h are groups have definitive spawning periods and ground whole a nd quick - frozen for use on fur geographic ranges. The chilipepper, Sebastes f arms . Their impor tant specie s are split­ paucispinis, and shortbelly, S. jordani, are nos e, S. diploproa, darkblotched, S. crameri, early-year spawners off southern and central California (unpublished data). The coral-red, s tripetail, S. saxicola, greenstriped, S. elon­ gatus, s harpchin, S. z acentrus, and greentail, S. macdonaldi, is a spring spawner with gr e at ­ est numbers occurring off B aja California S. chlor os tictus.

!lData for August, September, November, a nd Decem ber are insufficient for summarization to depict the trends shown in the figure . 43

The second is the commercial fishery for any particular pre s sure s. The California De - fresh food towhich only three species, caught partment of and Game estimates that a chiefly by t raw 1, contribute the greatest sustained yield of 15 to 20 million pounds could catches from Eureka to Santa Barbara. These be maintained off California (Frey, 1970). are bocaccio, S. paucispinis, canary, S. pin­ Some of the rockfish species important to niger, and chilipepper, S. goodei. the California fishe ry als 0 figure signific antly

The third is the sport fishery dominated by in the Washington and Oregon catches (Alver­ the blue, S. mystinus, and olive, S. serra­ son, Pruter, and Ronholt, 1964). These are boccacio, canary, and chilipepper. The major noides. The sculpin, Scorpaena guttata, con­ contributor in that commercial catch is the tributes abundantly to the fresh food fishery, rockfish, S. alutus, marketed as Pacific ocean hiefly by set lines, and the sport fishery. perch. Others include blackthroat, S. aleu­ Although little is known about the status of tianus, silver gray, S. brevispnis, yellowtail, the rockfish populations, most of the catches S. flavidus, black, S. melanops, and flag, remain good with no evidence of reduction by S. rubrivinctus.

UTERATURE CITED

AHLSTROM, ELBERT H. Commer. Fish. Rev., 32(7): 41-44. (Also Reprint 1961. Distribution and relative abundance of rockfish (Sebas­ No. 880.) todes spp.) off Cal if 0 r n i a and Baja California. J. Cons., 150: 169-176. 1970c. Seasonal and geographic characteristics of fishery re­ sources California Current Region--lV. Pacific ALVERSON, D. L., A. J. PRUTER and L. L. RONHOLT mackerel. Commer. Fish. Rev., 32(1O}: ;;-49. 1964. A study of demersal and fisheries of the north­ (Also Reprint No. 891.) eastern Pacific Ocean. H. R. MacMillan Lectures in Fisheries. lost. of Fisheries, Univ. of British 1970d. Seasonal and geographic characteristics of fishery re­ Columbia. sources California Current Region--V. Northern anchovy. Commer. Fish. Rev., 33(3): 33-38. BARRETT, lZADORE, JAMES JOSEPH and GEOFFREY MOSER (Also Reprint No. 907.) 1966. Electrophoretic analysis of hemoglobins of California rockfish (genus Sebastodes). Copeia, 3, 489-494. MOSER, H. GEOFFREY (In press). Development and geographic distribution of the FREY, HERBERT (Ed.) rockfish, Sebastes macdo n aldi (Eigenmann and 1971. California's living marine resources and their utiliza­ Beeson, 1893), family Scorpaenidae, off Southern tion. State of Calif. Res. Agency, Dept. Fish Game, California, Baja California. Fishery Bulletin. 148 p. PEARCY, WlLLIAM G. KRAMER, DAVID and PAUL E. SMITH 1962. Egg masses and early developmental stages of the 1970. Seasonal and geographic characteristics of fishery re­ Scorpaenid!ish, Sebastologus. J. Fish. Res. Rd. sources California Current region--l. Jack mackerel. Canada, 19(6): 1169-1173. Commer. Fish. Rev., 32(5): 27-31. (Also Reprint No. 871.) PHlLLIPS, JULIUS B. 1957. A review of the rockfishes of California (family 1970a. Seasonal and geographic characteristics of fishery re­ Scorpaenidae). Calif. Dept. Fish & Game, Fish. sources California Current' region--ll. Pacific saury. Bull. 104: 1-158. Commer. Fish. Rev., 32(6): 46-52. (Also Reprint No 876.) 1958. The marine fish catch of California, 1955 through 1956. Calif. Dept. Fish & Game, Fish Bull. 105: 1970b. Seasonal and geographic characteristics of fishery re­ 1-104. sources California Currentregion--lll. Pacific hake.