Pacific Hake
(also known as Pacific Whiting)
Merluccius productus
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Photograph courtesy of the
Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering
To link to their webpage click here.
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Aquaculture Potential
Currently, the Pacific hake does not have strong potential as an aquaculture species. There is a large fishery for this low value species (per individual). It may not be economically feasible to culture this species at this time. However, one of the local aquaculture experts identified this species as possibly having a strong potential in the future.
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In-depth Information Regarding this Species
| U.S. Range in the Pacific Ocean |
Alaska to Baja (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Depth range (meters) |
Down to 914 but usually shallower than 229 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Behavior |
School, migratory (Love 1996, Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Lives from high in water column to near the bottom (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Average Maximum Overall Length (cm) |
91.4 (Love 1996, Eschmeyer and Herald and Herald 1983) |
| Overall Maximum Age (years) |
23 (Love 1996) |
| Overall Growth Rate |
Females grow faster and larger than males (Love 1996) |
| Overall Age at Maturity (years) |
3–4 (Love 1996) |
| Overall Length at Maturity (cm) |
40.6 (Love 1996) |
| Spawning Location |
Southern California (Love 1996) |
| Time of Year of Spawning |
December–April
January and February (peak) (Love 1996) |
| Days to Hatch |
3 (Love 1996) |
| Juvenile Food Preference |
Krill (Love 1996) |
| Adult Feeding Type |
Feed at night (Love 1996) |
| Adult Food Preference |
Krill, Fish, Shrimp (Love 1996) |
| Commercial Fishery |
"…largest single resource in the groundfish fishery off California, Oregon, and Washington (Love 1996)."
Foreign countries catch more than U.S. or Canadian fisheries (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Market |
Problem with food market for humans due to a parasite (Kudoa paniformis)
Parasite not harmful to humans but softens meat after fish death (Love 1996)
Soft flesh (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Sold Fresh or Frozen |
Fresh or Frozen (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Additional Use of the Species |
Fish meal
Mink food (Love 1996, Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Additional Remarks |
Meat softens quickly, therefore must be processed quickly (Love 1996) |
Recent Wild Harvest Data for Oregon
Data from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
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Year
|
Total Catch
(Pounds)
|
Ex-vessel Value
( U.S. Dollars)
|
|
1989
|
195,914
|
14,625
|
|
1990
|
5,058,341
|
219,501
|
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1991
|
29,108,721
|
1,396,758
|
|
1992
|
107,939,472
|
5,067,451
|
|
1993
|
78,969,791
|
2,278,648
|
|
1994
|
143,563,263
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4,288,503
|
|
1995
|
147,354,856
|
7,000,346
|
|
1996
|
155,587,811
|
4,146,641
|
|
1997
|
162,781,511
|
6,822,679
|
|
1998
|
157,894,788
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3,756,485
|
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Photo contributed by:
Douglas F. Markle
Department of Fisheries & Wildlife
Oregon State University
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