EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

During each annual spawning event, a female can produce 260,000 to 1.9 million eggs,
depending upon her size and age (Guillemot et al. 1985, NMFS 2008e). Unlike some other
rockfish, there does not appear to be a latitudinal or geographic gradient associated with number
of eggs produced (Gunderson et al. 1980, Love et al. 2002). Birth takes place in Oregonian and
Washingtonian waters between September through March, with a peak in December and
January. The peak in British Columbian waters is slightly later (February)(Hart 1973b,
Westrheim and Harling 1975, Wyllie Echeverria 1987, Barss 1989).
Growth and development
When born, larvae are 3.6-4.0 mm in length and take from 1-4 months to develop into juveniles
(Waldron 1968, Richardson and Laroche 1979, Stahl-Johnson 1985, Moser 1996a, Krigsman
2000, Love et al. 2002). As with other rockfish, females seem grow more quickly than do males,
with females reaching sexual maturity at 7-9 years of age (35-45 cm in length) versus males at 7-
12 years (~41 cm in length) off Oregon (Westrheim and Harling 1975, Boehlert and Kappenman
1980, Lenarz and Echeverria 1991, STAT 1999). Mean length at sexual maturity off Vancouver
Island is 41 cm for females and 48 cm for males (Westrheim and Harling 1975). Canary rockfish
are known to frequently reach 60-75 years of age and have been found to be as old as 84 years
(Cailliet et al. 2000, Cailliet et al. 2001, Andrews et al. 2007). Maximum reported sizes are 76
cm and 4.5 kg (Boehlert 1980, IGFA 1991, Williams et al. 1999, Love et al. 2002, Methot and
Stewart 2005).
Foraging
Canary rockfish prey upon different species as they age. Larvae are planktivores, consuming
invertebrate eggs, copepods, and nauplii (Moser and Boehlert 1991, Love et al. 2002). Juveniles
feed upon zooplankton, including crustaceans, juvenile polychaetes barnacle cyprids, and
euphasiid eggs and larvae (Gaines and Roughgarden 1987, Love et al. 1991). However, adults
move into a carnivorous lifestyle as well as eating euphasiids and other crustaceans. Adults
consume other fishes such as shortbelly rockfish, mytophids and stomiatiods (Cailliet et al. 2000,
Love et al. 2002). However, oceanographic and climactic shifts can alter foraging such that
canary rockfish feed on other available species (Lee and Sampson 2009).
Status and trends
Canary rockfish were proposed for listing on April 23, 2009 (74 FR 18516). Canary rockfish
were once considered common in Puget Sound, but has declined at a faster rate than any other
rockfish species in the region (Holmberg et al. 1967, NMFS 2008e). Prior to World War II,
commercial landings of rockfish species generally remained under 20,000 lbs, but sky-rocketed
during the war to 375,000 lbs annually and fluctuated between 50,000 and 220,000 lbs until
1970, when landings increased linearly with fishing effort to a peak of 900,000 lbs by 1980
(Palsson et al. 2008). Levels fluctuated after this between 48,000 and 300,000 lbs for the next
decade and clearly crashed in the 1990’s, with landings below 30,000 lbs annually. At the
cessation of commercial fishing in 2003, 2,600 lbs of rockfish were harvested. Canary rockfish
have been noted for being much less frequently caught in the Puget Sound and Georgia Basin
region since 1965 (NMFS 2008e). The rate of decline for rockfish in Puget Sound has been
estimated at ~3% annually for the period 1965-2007.
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