Brown Rockfish

Sebastes auriculatus

Photo contributed by: Daniel W. Gotshall To email him click here.

Aquaculture Potential The brown rockfish, along with many other species of rockfish, have experienced overfishing in the Pacific Northwest. As regulations limit fishing wild stock and as interest increases in repopulating rockfish habitat, this species may gain further interest for aquaculture application. It could be raised for commercial and/or remediation purposes. The brown rockfish has been studied for its aquaculture potential by Mike Rust and others at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Washington. It is possible that this will be one of the emerging aquaculture species for the region.

Opportunity Constraints Work is being conducted to look at this species' aquaculture potential (Rust 2001) Greatest range of environmental tolerance compared to copper rockfish and black rockfish (Stein and Hassler 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995) Valuable in the live fishery market Age at maturity is 3–10, but this is lower than other rockfish species(Washington et al. 1978 in Stickney et al. 1995, Love 1996). When held in tanks for the live fish market they are prone to disease and within four days they are very sick (Barnes 2003).

In-depth Information Regarding this Species

Alternate Common Names	N/A
U.S. Range in the Pacific Ocean	N/A
Habitat	Shallow (Love 1996) Reefs (Stickney et al. 1995)
Substrate	Hard bottom or sand near structure (Love 1996)
Depth range (meters)	Down to 128 (Stein and Hassler 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Behavior	N/A
General Temperature Range (°C)	10–17 and up to 22 (Stein and Hassler 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995) 7–13 (Love 1996)
General Salinity Range (ppt)	N/A
Maximum Overall Recorded Size (cm)	N/A
Maximum Recorded Size for Males (cm)	N/A
Maximum Recorded Size for Females (cm)	N/A
Average Maximum Overall Length (cm)	55.9 (Love 1996) 55 (Stein and Hassler 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Average Maximum Overall Length for Males (cm)	N/A
Average Maximum Overall Length for Females (cm)	N/A
Average Maximum weight (kg)	N/A
Average Maximum weight for Males (cm)	N/A
Average Maximum weight for Females (cm)	N/A
Length When Harvested (cm)	N/A
Weight When Harvested (kg)	N/A
Overall Length to Age Ratio (cm/age in years)	N/A
Male Length to Age Ratio (cm/age in years)	N/A
Female Length to Age Ratio (cm/age in years)	N/A
Overall Maximum Age (years)	N/A
Maximum Age for Males (years)	N/A
Maximum Age for Females (years)	N/A
Age when Harvested (years)	N/A
Overall Growth Rate	Same for males and females (Love 1996)
Male Growth Rate	N/A
Female Growth Rate	N/A
Overall Age at Maturity (years)	5 (50% mature) 10 (all mature) (Love 1996) 3 (first individuals become mature) (Washington et al. 1978 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Male Age at Maturity (years)	N/A
Female Age at Maturity (years)	N/A
Overall Length at Maturity (cm)	30.5 (50% mature) 38.1 (all mature) (Love 1996)
Male Length at Maturity (cm)	N/A
Female Length at Maturity (cm)	N/A
Maturity/Temperature Relationship	N/A
Type of Reproduction	N/A
Fecundity	42,000–266,000 (Love 1996) 52,000 for 31 cm female 339,000 for 48 cm female (Stein and Hassler 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Spawning Habitat	N/A
Spawning Behavior	N/A
Time of Year of Spawning	May and June (Love 1996) February through March (peak) (Stahl-Johnson 1984 in Stickney et al. 1995) March and April (ovulation) Embryos released in April through July (Stein and Hassler 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995) Insemination in January and February
Number of Spawns per season	Most rockfish spawn 1 time per year (Stein and Hassler, 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Spawning/Temperature Relationship (°C)	N/A
Spawning/Salinity Relationship	N/A
Description of Eggs	N/A
Habitat where Eggs are found	N/A
Days to Hatch	41–44 at 8.3–9.1°C (Stahl-Johnson 1984 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Time of Year when Eggs Hatch	N/A
Temperature for Egg Survival (°C)	N/A
Salinity for Egg Survival (ppt)	N/A
Predators on Eggs	N/A
Habitat where Larvae are found	Pelagic, Kelp beds (Stickney et al. 1995)
Days in Larval Stage	N/A
Temperature for Larval Survival (°C)	9–17.2 (Stahl-Johnson 1984 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Salinity for Larval Survival (ppt)	N/A
Larval Food Preference	Larvae in lab preferred rotifers over Artemia or copepods (Stahl-Johnson 1984 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Habitat where Juveniles are found	N/A
Length when Juvenile Settles out (cm)	N/A
Temperature for Juvenile Survival (°C)	N/A
Salinity for Juvenile Survival (ppt)	N/A
Where and When Juvenile Feeds	N/A
Juvenile Food Preference	N/A
Habitat where Adults are found (depth in meters)	N/A
Temperature for Adult Survival (°C)	N/A
Salinity for Adult Survival (ppt)	N/A
Adult Feeding Type	N/A
Adult Food Preference	Fish, Crustaceans (Crabs) (Love 1996) Crabs, Small fish, Shrimp, Isopods, and Polychaetes (Stein and Hassler 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995) Crustacean (52%), Fish (33%) of diet Shrimp, Crab, Pacific sand lance (Washington et al. 1978 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Food Eaten in Laboratory Setting	N/A
Amount of Food Eaten in Laboratory Setting	N/A
Additional Laboratory Findings	N/A
Environmental Considerations	Greatest range of environmental tolerance compared to copper rockfish and black rockfish (Stein and Hassler 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Commercial Fishery	Valuable when sold live (Love 1996)
Market	Local Asian (Love 1996)
Sold Fresh or Frozen	N/A
Style Species is Sold	N/A
Additional Use of the Species	N/A
Shelf-life in Fresh State (days at 40°F)	N/A
Shelf-life in Frozen State (months at 0°F)	N/A
Shelf-life Canned (months)	N/A
Weight sold in Oregon (kg)	N/A
Ornamental Market	N/A
Parasites or Disease	N/A
Additional Remarks	May hybridize with copper rockfish in Puget sound (Love 1996) Most rockfish are venomous (poison glands on fin spines) but only painful to humans and not deadly (Stein and Hassler, 1989 in Stickney et al. 1995).
Location where Species has been Researched/Farmed	Stahl and Johnson (1984) reared fish from wild broodstock to caudal fin formation (Stickney et al. 1995) Being studied for their aquaculture potential at the Pacific Northwest Fisheries Science Center A facility for the live fish market has not been able to keep this species healthy for more than four days in holding tanks (Barnes 2003).
Appropriate Aquaculture Systems	N/A

Recent Wild Harvest Data for Oregon
Data from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Data for all rockfish caught
*(except for black rockfish, canary rockfish, widow rockfish, yelowtail rockfish, and Pacific ocean perch)

Year	Total Catch (Pounds)	Ex-vessel Value ( U.S. Dollars)
1989*	11,086,159	3,134,719
1990*	7,134,485	2,177,787
1991*	10,053,489	3,290,452
1992*	8,578,115	2,892,963
1993*	8,906,024	3,083,577
1994*	5,009,014	1,879,158
1995	2,547,151	1,137,441
1996	2,461,809	1,032,307
1997	2,160,170	969,342
1998	2,132,872	1,058,898

Note: Data for 1989–1993 includes values for black rockfish and canary rockfish.
Data for 1989–1994 includes values for canary rockfish.

Photograph courtesy of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering To link to their webpage click here.

© 2003 Stephen Sempier