Canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 7

Habitat

Habitat requirements

California studies indicate that larvae and pelagic juvenile canary rockfish are found in the top 100 m of the water column for up to 3-4 months after parturition, and then settle to benthic habitats (Love et al. 2002). They have been reported in depths of 15-20 m at the interfaces between sand and rock outcrops (Love et al. 2002). Research on the west coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI) indicated that juveniles tended to move from depths of 10 m to deeper waters as they grew and aged, although adults were found at shallow depths (Gillespie et al. 1993; data source: GFBio). While the observed depth range for adults indicated by the bottom trawl fishery is about 70-270 m (95% percentile), most trawl catches came from bottom trawl tows in bottom depths of 135-190 m (Fig. 3) (source database: PacHarvTrawl).


Habitat protection/ownership

Canary rockfish are a marine and generally sub-tidal species; thus all habitat is within Canada’s federal marine waters. Most of these waters are exploited by commercial, recreational and First Nations’ fishers. A small percentage of canary rockfish habitat has been closed to commercial and sport fishing. These include relatively small “sponge reef” closuresFootnote 5 in Queen Charlotte Sound (QCSd) and Hecate Strait (HS), and a series of small Rockfish Conservation Areas in the Strait of Georgia and the outer coast.

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