Yellowtail Rockfish
Sebastes flavidus
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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
Many species of rockfish have experienced overfishing in the Pacific Northwest. The yellowtail rockfish is a major component of the wild rockfish fishery. 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. However, when this species is held in tanks for the live fishery market it is difficult to maintain the health of the animal after three to four days in captivity (Barnes 2003).
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In-depth Information Regarding this Species
| U.S. Range in the Pacific Ocean |
Alaska to San Diego (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Habitat |
Common
Pelagic (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Depth range (meters) |
Surface to 247 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Surface to 550 (Love 1996) |
| Behavior |
School (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Average Maximum Overall Length (cm) |
66 (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983) |
| Overall Length to Age Ratio (cm/age in years) |
45/10 (Love 1996) |
| Overall Maximum Age (years) |
+64 (Love 1996) |
| Overall Age at Maturity (years) |
11–15 50% mature in Alaska
6 50% mature in California (Love 1996)
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| Type of Reproduction |
Viviparous (Love 1996) |
| Fecundity |
56,000 to 1,993,000 (Love 1996) |
| Time of Year of Spawning |
January–July (Love 1996) |
| Habitat where Juveniles are found |
Kelp beds (Love 1996) |
| Adult Food Preference |
Fish, Krill, Plankton (Love 1996)
Pelagic Crustaceans, Fish (Eschmeyer and Herald 1983)
Pacific sand lance, Fish, Pelagic crustaceans (Rosenthal 1988 in Stickney et al. 1995)
Pacific herring, Pacific sand lance, Crab larvae (Washington et al. 1978 in Stickney et al. 1995) |
| Commercial Fishery |
Very important fishery
Sometimes most commonly rockfish caught (Love 1996) |
| Style Species is Sold |
Filleted (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)
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Ex-vessel Value
( U.S. Dollars)
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1989
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4,076,729
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1,099,739
|
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1990
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4,011,601
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1,103,934
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1991
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3,857,810
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1,164,470
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1992
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8,374,166
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2,608,814
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1993
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6,251,541
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1,953,664
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1994
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6,875,837
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2,330,511
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1995
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6,743,150
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2,470,770
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1996
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7,834,529
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2,690,158
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1997
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2,785,108
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1,011,504
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1998
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3,792,788
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1,424,226
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Photo contributed by:
Bill Barss
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
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