Add five types of rockfish from local waters to the species being studied for possible listing as threatened or endangered.
Bocaccio, yelloweye, redstripe, greenstripe and canary rockfish populations in the Puget Sound area have declined enough since the 1970s to warrant being studied for a listing under the Endangered Species Act, officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said last week.
Two weeks ago, the agency launched a similar study of Pacific smelt, based on declining runs in the Columbia River system and in Oregon and California.
Overfishing is believed to be the primary culprit in the decline of rockfish, but other possible causes will be studied as well, officials said.
The agency expects to have a recommendation by fall on both smelt and rockfish. If the agency decides any of the species should be protected, hearings would be convened. The earliest a listing could take effect is the fall of 2009.
All five rockfish species are found from Alaska to Mexico, but the study will focus on Western Washington waterways only, said Scott Rumsey, a biologist with the federal agency. The study area includes Puget Sound, Possession Sound, Saratoga Passage and Port Susan Bay, from Olympia to Deception Pass, along with Hood Canal.
Rockfish, with bulging eyes and spiny backs, live on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and saltwater channels and bays. They eat small fish and shellfish. Rockfish vary greatly in size, reaching a maximum of 15 to 36 inches long, depending on species.
The white meat of rockfish is widely considered good table fare, and rockfish were caught extensively by commercial “draggers” in the 1970s and 1980s, according to Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the agency.
Commercial “drag” boats, which tow nets along the bottom to gather fish, have been shown to devastate habitat and have stopped fishing in inland waters, Rumsey said.
“Harvests during the 1970s and 1980s reduced stocks to very low levels,” Gorman said.
Rockfish are slow-growing and long-lived, with lifespans ranging from about 25 years for greenstripe rockfish to more than 100 years for yelloweye. Their slow growth rate makes it harder for stocks to recover.
It’s not known how many fish are in the water now, which is one reason for the study.
Rockfish also once were extensively caught as sport fish. Anglers likely contributed to the species’ decline by targeting them when salmon fishing slowed down, also in the ’70s and ’80s, said Kit Rawson, senior fishing management biologist for the Tulalip Tribes.
Tulalip commercial fisheries don’t target rockfish, and very limited numbers are believed to have been caught in recent years by tribal members for recreation or subsistence, officials said.
Pollution and loss of kelp beds, in addition to overfishing, likely have contributed to the species’ decline, Rawson said.
Though rockfish are not currently significant to tribal harvest or culture, “their decline is a symptom of marine ecosystem degradation which is of concern to the tribe,” Rawson said. “They are part of the ecosystem that was here in 1855 when the treaties were signed and that ecosystem is necessary to support the tribes’ way of life.”
Now, rockfish are usually caught only by anglers trying to catch halibut or chinook salmon. Evidence of reduced harvest of the fish in Puget Sound by recreational fishermen convinced federal officials to pursue the study.
Sam Wright of Olympia, a former state government fisheries manager, filed a petition with the federal agency asking for a study of a possible listing for the rockfish. Wright showed that the recreational harvest of the fish declined sharply between 1975 and 1986, with no other reason likely than very low numbers.
There once was no limit on the number of rockfish that could be kept. Before the 1970s, anytime someone wanted to catch one, they could, said Mike Chamberlain, owner of Ted’s Sports Center in Lynnwood.
“People were catching loads of them,” he said. “I remember catching a lot of them off the beach.”
By 1994, the rockfish limit had been reduced to three in south Puget Sound and five in north Puget Sound. Now, it’s one.
It’s not yet known whether the limit would drop to zero, or what other restrictions would be imposed, if the species is listed as threatened or endangered, Rumsey said.
If rockfish are protected, it would mean that any anyone who spends federal money on projects in areas where the fish are found must make sure their actions don’t harm the fish. It also would require federal officials to develop a plan for restoring rockfish populations.
Rawson of the Tulalip Tribes is a member of the San Juan Marine Resources Committee, an advisory group studying fisheries in the San Juan Island area. Rawson helped run a workshop in 2003 that resulted in a 159-page report that he’ll provide to NOAA for their rockfish study, he said.
Rawson has been involved in a bottomfish protection program in the San Juan Islands, where eight “no-take” zones are believed to have helped bottomfish begin to recover.
Chamberlain isn’t convinced reducing the limit to zero would help. The fish generally don’t survive if caught and released because of decompression damage to their bladder system, and restrictions likely would not stop incidental catches.
“I don’t think it can really make much difference from what we’ve got now,” Chamberlain said.
Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
