fish · The Trophy Room
Rockfish
A slow-growing, long-lived reef fish and a genuinely gorgeous one — deep orange-red mottled in darker flecks, armored with spines. Rockfish can live to be older than the angler holding them, which is the whole reason they need such careful handling. This one was identified, photographed, and sent home.
Identifying
- deep orange-red body mottled with grey and dark flecks; pale belly
- a rank of sharp dorsal spines and spiny gill covers — handle with care
- large mouth and eyes; the vermilion has fine black speckling and a reddish mouth
- dozens of Sebastes species overlap here — reef habitat plus the red-orange build narrows it down
Facts
- some rockfish live 60 to over 100 years and mature slowly, so a harvested big one is a decades-long loss
- retention is closed across much of the Salish Sea (Marine Area 7 included) — carry a descending device (it's required) and send accidental catches back to depth
- a rockfish hauled up from depth suffers barotrauma; released at the surface it dies — the descender is what makes release actually work
