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Canary Rockfish

Sebastes pinniger

Canary rockfish illustration.

Also Known As

  • Canaries
  • Canary rockcod
  • Rockfish

U.S. wild-caught canary rockfish is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.

Canary rockfish caught in a research trawl. (Photo credit: NOAA)Canary rockfish. (Photo credit: NOAA)Canary rockfish graphic identifying several physical characteristics, including head spines, lateral line, pelvic and anal fins. (Photo credit: NOAA)Canary rockfish specimen of whole fish. (Photo credit: FDA)Canary rockfish specimen of fish filet. (Photo credit: FDA)

Population

Above target population level on the Pacific Coast.

Fishing Rate

At recommended levels.

Habitat Impacts

Most fishing gear used to harvest canary rockfish rarely contacts the ocean floor and has minimal impacts on habitat. Area closures and gear restrictions protect sensitive rocky, cold-water coral and sponge habitats from bottom trawl gear.

Bycatch

Regulations are in place to minimize bycatch of overfished and protected species.

  • Availability

    Year-round.

  • Source

    U.S. wild-caught from California to Alaska.

  • Taste

    Delicate, nutty, sweet flavor.

  • Texture

    Lean and medium-firm, with a fine flake.

  • Color

    Raw flesh varies from light pink or translucent, to pink, to red, and turns white when cooked.

  • Health Benefits

    Rockfish are high in selenium.

The U.S. Fishery

Fishery Management

Harvest

  • Commercial fishery:
    • In 2019, commercial landings of canary rockfish totaled more than 1 million pounds and were valued at $522,000, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database. 
  • Gear types, habitat impacts, and bycatch:
    • Primarily harvested with midwater trawl gear, which has minimal impacts on ocean bottom habitats. To a lesser extent, harvested with bottom trawl gear.
    • Midwater and bottom trawls may sometimes catch other species of fish, including overfished and protected species.
      • Gear restrictions, closed areas, and catch share programs limit when, where, and how much trawl fishermen can harvest to reduce bycatch of other species.
      • Rockfish conservation areas eliminate fishing in areas on the West Coast where overfished rockfish species co-occur with target stocks, like canary rockfish. These closed areas help prevent bycatch of overfished rockfish.
    • Canary rockfish are often caught incidentally in the Pacific whiting fishery.
      • Managers are working to reduce incidental catch through the use of annual catch limits and catch shares.
  • Recreational fishery:
    • Recreational anglers fish for canary rockfish, but they comprise only a minor part of recreational groundfish fisheries.

The Science

Population Status

  • There are three stocks of canary rockfish: Pacific coast and two stocks in the Gulf of Alaska.  According to the most recent stock assessments:

    • The Pacific coast stock is not overfished (2015 stock assessment) and not subject to overfishing based on 2018 catch data. Summary stock assessment information can be found on Stock SMART. This stock had been overfished and was successfully rebuilt in 2015.

    • In the Gulf of Alaska, canary rockfish is contained in two stock complexes:

      • The population status of the Gulf of Alaska Demersal Shelf Rockfish Complex is unknown, but according to 2020 catch data, this complex is not subject to overfishing.

      • The population status of the Gulf of Alaska Other Rockfish Complex is unknown, but according to 2020 catch data, this complex is not subject to overfishing.

  • The Puget Sound/Georgia Basin distinct population segment of canary rockfish was listed under the ESA in 2010 and delisted in 2017. There is more information about this in the Research section.

Location

  • Canary rockfish are found between Punta Colnett, Baja California, and the Western Gulf of Alaska. Within this range, canary rockfish are most common off the coast of central Oregon.

Habitat

  • Canary rockfish primarily inhabit waters 160 to 820 feet deep but may be found to 1400 feet.
  • Larvae are found in surface waters and may be distributed over a wide area extending several hundred miles offshore.
  • Larvae and small juvenile rockfish may remain in open waters for several months, being passively dispersed by ocean currents.
  • Juveniles and subadults tend to be more common than adults in shallow water and are associated with rocky reefs, kelp canopies, and artificial structures, such as piers and oil platforms.
  • Adults generally move into deeper water as they increase in size and age but usually exhibit strong site fidelity to rocky bottoms and outcrops where they hover in loose groups just above the bottom.

Physical Description

  • Adult canary rockfish are bright yellow/orange mottling above and gray underneath, three orange stripes across the head, and orange fins.
  • Animals less than 14 inches long have dark markings on the posterior part of the spiny dorsal fin.
  • Adults have gray along the lateral line.
  • The genus name Sebastes is Greek for "magnificent" and the species name pinniger is Latin for "large-finned."

Biology

  • Canary rockfish are large rockfish that reach up to 2.5 feet in length and 10 pounds.
  • They can live up to 75 years.
  • Approximately 50 percent of adult canary rockfish are mature at 14 inches total length (about 5 to 6 years of age).
  • Rockfishes are unusual among the bony fishes in that fertilization and embryo development is internal and female rockfish give birth to live larval young.
  • Female can have 260,000 to 1.9 million eggs, considerably more than many other rockfish species.
  • Larval rockfish feed on diatoms, dinoflagellates, tintinnids, and cladocerans.
  • Juveniles consume copepods and euphausiids of all life stages.
  • Adults eat demersal invertebrates and small fishes, including other species of rockfish.

Research

  • Between 2014-2016, charter boat captains and volunteer anglers collected 100 rare rockfish in the Puget Sound region. Three species had been listed as threatened or endangered, and NOAA looked to local ecological knowledge for the scientific sampling required for recovery. Genetic analyses from these fishing trips provided new information, contributed to the delisting of canary rockfish, and expanded protective boundaries for yelloweye rockfish.

Last updated: 04/08/2021