Planting rock fish in the sound?

[JT26]

If the state ever decided to put rock fish in the sound would it work?
I mean if they had the money and support to do it do you think they would reproduce and be healthy?
That would be so great.

[kuttkilla]

If the state ever decided to put rock fish in the sound would it work?
I mean if they had the money and support to do it do you think they would reproduce and be healthy?
That would be so great.

I've never heard of planting rock fish. Interesting idea. Not sure how that one would work out...

[JT26]

ive never either. iv just heard of planting there habitat.
i know it wont happen, its just something fun to think about.

[bpm2000]

too much pollution, too much traffic/pressure. plus rockfish grow very very slowly. The sound may have once been a great place for fish, but with the commerce and pollutants in there i dunno..

[A9]

Rockfish grow darn slow...

What kind of rockfish do you mean?

It's more about getting them good habitats now. I sure know that my old rock cod spots that were good ones not more then 5 years ago are ghost towns now....

They just grow too slow....

[kayak chris]

IMO the growth rate of these fish is not the issue, it is the last variable. Sam is correct. It is about habitat. However, it is also about fishing pressure. I believe that the shallow water rockfish (Copper's, Black's, Quillback's) are as much a sportfish as is the freshwater bass. Aggressive feeders and non-stop fighters.... if you catch them in 40ft of water or less. Any deeper, and they die from basically the "Bends."

What we don't need is federal protection in our waters. The rockfish population in the Puget sound is subject to 3 threats. In order: Commercial trawlers, recreational fishermen and incidental recreational salmon fishing. There is nothing that can be done about the "incidentals" when targeting other sportfish. Combining a catch & release only system with an fisherman education program solves the pressure from recreational fishermen. And finally, set depth limits for trawlers so that their not scraping thru rockfish habitat.

Personally, I do not belive that pollution plays as big a role as some people think. Please, please, please don't get me wrong. I am all for the reducing pollution and having clean waters. I am a fisherman. I know polultion will kill fish. I'm just saying that I have caught these fish in very polluted portions of the Puget Sound.

I believe we should take the lead from other states dealing with similar issues. For example, the Goliath grouper in FL. Slow growing fish. Had been overfished for decades. Now rebounding. You can even watch TV shows about the C & R fishery.

I'll now get down from my high horse.

[bpm2000]

IMO the growth rate of these fish is not the issue, it is the last variable. Sam is correct. It is about habitat. However, it is also about fishing pressure. I believe that the shallow water rockfish (Copper's, Black's, Quillback's) are as much a sportfish as is the freshwater bass. Aggressive feeders and non-stop fighters.... if you catch them in 40ft of water or less. Any deeper, and they die from basically the "Bends."

What we don't need is federal protection in our waters. The rockfish population in the Puget sound is subject to 3 threats. In order: Commercial trawlers, recreational fishermen and incidental recreational salmon fishing. There is nothing that can be done about the "incidentals" when targeting other sportfish. Combining a catch & release only system with an fisherman education program solves the pressure from recreational fishermen. And finally, set depth limits for trawlers so that their not scraping thru rockfish habitat.

Personally, I do not belive that pollution plays as big a role as some people think. Please, please, please don't get me wrong. I am all for the reducing pollution and having clean waters. I am a fisherman. I know polultion will kill fish. I'm just saying that I have caught these fish in very polluted portions of the Puget Sound.

I believe we should take the lead from other states dealing with similar issues. For example, the Goliath grouper in FL. Slow growing fish. Had been overfished for decades. Now rebounding. You can even watch TV shows about the C & R fishery.

I'll now get down from my high horse.

The pollution aspect was more for consumption than growth inmy earlier post

[Smalma]

The rub with rockfish is that they are extremely slow grow and relatively long lived. Such fish are very vulunerable to over fishing. There is virtual no doubt the Puget Sound rockfish are currently being limited fishing and over the last two decades that has been us the recreational fishers.

The comparison to the goliath grouper is interesting. Yes both are considered to be slow growing though there are significant differences. Comparing the Goliath to our Copper rockfish. Both can live to an age of 50 or so and reach sexually mature at around age 6. However at age 6 a copper rockfish will be 11 or 12 inches long while a Goliath will be about 44 inches long for a male and 50 inches as female. At age 50 a Goliath will likely weight more than 500 pounds while a copper more than 5 pounds

IN addition the Goliath is most a shallow water fish which makes a CnR regulation very effective while many of our rockfish are found in deeper waters which can significantly reduce the survival of released fish. If we really wish to see more rockfish (and the feds may force the issue with the potential ESA listings) we need to reduce our own fishing impacts which can only be done by reducing the recreational by-catch of the deep water fish by avoiding fishing in areas and with gear where we are likely to encounter them. I personally would also support a 0 bag limit on all PS rockfish which would tend to discourage folks from targeting them.

Tight lines
Curt

[Fish-or-man?]

If your goal was to restore stocks you could set fathom-restrictions in high-quality habitat areas. But people would probably still illegally target them while out. Zero bag limit, as Curt suggested, as well as keeping the Sound healthy might be the only way to bring rockfish back in numbers.