04-24 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 13
fishing
bottomfish
jason
brooks
One of the most soughtafter ocean-dwelling
fish is the bottomfish,
also called rockfish and
groundfish. Anglers
also refer to some of the
species as “sea bass” as
they resemble freshwater
largemouth bass.
Regardless of what you
call them anglers who
target these fish all call
them “tasty” which is why
they are so popular. But
do not expect the various
species of bottomfish to
take up a lot of space in
magazines or flood your
social media feed with
lots of sea-bass photos
and “how to’s”. Maybe
it is because they are
often a bycatch or used
to fill the time between
salmon bites or maybe it is
because most daily limits
offer enough fish to fill a
freezer fast so anglers only
fish for them a few times a
year. If it is the latter, then
be aware that regulations
and fisheries are changing
quickly.
exceptionally long time,
like over 100 years, with
the oldest living yelloweye
aged at 118 years and
estimated to be able to
live 147 years. This long
life means they mature
slowly and do not reach
adulthood until they are
19-22 years old. When it
takes a species this long to
mature, the over-harvest
can be problematic. One
of the saving graces for
this species is that they
live very deep, averaging
300 feet and can live
as deep as 1,500 feet in
the abyss. This is also a
common detriment to
most rockfish species
and that is they are prone
to barotrauma which is
when the swim bladder
becomes distended as
the fish comes up from
the high-pressure deep
water. Using a descending
device will help reduce
mortality.
Like the yelloweye
rockfish, most of the
rockfish found in Puget
Sound are off-limits due to
A few years ago, back
the loss of species. There
in 2010, the yelloweye
are some Marine Areas
rockfish was listed on the
where rockfish can still be
Endangered Species List
as threatened and remains caught and kept including
there today in Washington the ocean areas such as
Marine Areas 1 through 4.
and Oregon waters. This
is because it is one of the
largest rockfish species
which means it lives an
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