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Maturity and growth of darkblotched rockfish, Sebastes crameri, along the U.S. west coast

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Abstract

Changes in the reproductive biology of fish stocks over time can affect the accuracy of recruitment estimates used by fisheries managers to determine harvest levels. For heavily depleted species, shifts in parameters such as age and size at maturity may occur over a relatively short time period in response to changes in selective pressure or population density. We examined the reproductive biology of darkblotched rockfish (Sebastes crameri), a commercially and ecologically important groundfish in the California Current ecosystem along the west coast of North America. The National Marine Fisheries Service currently lists darkblotched rockfish as “rebuilding” after years of intense overfishing in the 1980s and 1990s. We examined ovaries and age structures collected in 2011 and 2012 for oocyte development stage and maturity. Length and age at 50 % maturity were estimated as 30.0 cm fork length and 6.0 years, respectively, indicating a 12 and 29 % decrease compared to the length and age at 50 % maturity previously reported for this stock based on specimens collected from 1986 to 1987. This reduction increased the estimate of spawning stock biomass in a recent darkblotched rockfish stock assessment. Our study also revealed spatial patterns in darkblotched rockfish maturity along the U.S. west coast, including a notable decrease in the proportion of mature fish encountered south of central Oregon. Our findings demonstrate the importance of periodically updating life history data used in stock assessment models, and also highlight the potential value of spatial management toward sustainable fishing of rockfish species.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the 2011–2012 West Coast Groundfish Bottom Trawl Survey team (V. Simon, M. Bradburn, K. Bosley, D. Kamikawa, J. Buchanan, J. Harms, A. Chappell, D. Draper, and all the volunteers) for their skill and dedication in collecting high quality data for the groundfish survey, C. Whitmire for GIS support and figure contribution, Patrick McDonald and the NWFSC ageing lab for analysis of age structures, and B. Horness for data quality assurance. Thanks also to the captains and crew of the F/V Noah’s Ark, F/V Ms Julie, F/V Excalibur, and F/V Raven. Thanks to Jim Thorson and Owen Hamel for their valuable insights into the use of maturity data in stock assessment. We would also like to thank M. Malick, I. Taylor, and E. Steiner for their help with statistical analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Seattle, WA, 98112, USA

    Peter H. Frey, Melissa A. Head & Aimee A. Keller

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  1. Peter H. Frey
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  2. Melissa A. Head
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  3. Aimee A. Keller
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Correspondence to Peter H. Frey.

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Frey, P.H., Head, M.A. & Keller, A.A. Maturity and growth of darkblotched rockfish, Sebastes crameri, along the U.S. west coast. Environ Biol Fish 98, 2353–2365 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-015-0441-1

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