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Canary Rockfish (Sebastes pinniger)

ESA Threatened - Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin DPS

Weight:	10 pounds (4 kg)
Length:	up to 2.5 feet (77 cm)
Appearance:	bright yellow to orange mottling over gray, as adults
Lifespan:	up to 75 years
Diet:	invertebrates and small fishes, as adults
Behavior:	Rockfishes are unusual among the bony fishes in that fertilization and embryo development is internal and female rockfish give birth to live larval young

Canary rockfish are large rockfish that reach up to 2.5 feet (77 cm) in length and 10 pounds (4 kg) in weight. Adults have bright yellow to orange mottling over gray, 3 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 and gray along the lateral line.

Rockfishes are unusual among the bony fishes in that fertilization and embryo development is internal and female rockfish give birth to live larval young. Larvae are found in surface waters and may be distributed over a wide area extending several hundred miles offshore. "Fecundity" in female canary rockfish ranges from 260,000 to 1.9 million eggs, considerably more than many other rockfish species. Larvae and small juvenile rockfish may remain in open waters for several months, being passively dispersed by ocean currents.

Larval rockfish feed on diatoms, dinoflagellates, tintinnids, and cladocerans, and juveniles consume copepods and euphausiids of all life stages. Adults eat demersal invertebrates and small fishes, including other species of rockfish, associated with kelp beds, rocky reefs, pinnacles, and sharp dropoffs. Approximately 50 percent of adult canary rockfish are mature at 14 inches (36 cm) total length (about 5 to 6 years of age). Canary rockfish can live to be 75 years old.

Canary rockfish primarily inhabit waters 160 to 820 feet (50 to 250 m) deep but may be found to 1400 feet (425 m). 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.

Critical Habitat
We designated critical habitat for the Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin DPSs of yelloweye rockfish, canary rockfish, and bocaccio on November 13, 2014.

Canary rockfish range 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. Recreational catch and effort data from the mid-1970s to mid-1990s suggests possible declines in abundance. While catch data are generally constant over this time period, the number of angler trips increased substantially, and the average number of canary rockfish caught per trip declined. Taken together, these data suggest declines in the population over time. Currently there are no survey data being taken for this species, but few of these fish are currently caught by fishermen, suggesting a low population abundance. Canary rockfish used to be one of the three principal species caught in Puget Sound in the 1960s.

• fishing
• bycatch in other fisheries, including those for salmon
• adverse environmental factors, which led to recruitment failures

Various state restrictions on fishing have been put in place over the years, including banning retention of canary rockfish in Washington in 2003. Because this species is slow growing, late to mature, and long-lived, recovery from these threats will take many years, even if the threats are no longer affecting the species.

Based on recently obtained new genetic information that indicates that the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin population of canary rockfish is not genetically discrete from canary rockfish on the coast, we are proposing to delist the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin DPS of canary rockfish. Because of the lack of discreteness in the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin canary rockfish population, we find that it does not meet the DPS criteria and therefore does not qualify for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

In April 2010, we listed the Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin DPS as Threatened.

On April 9, 2007, we received a petition from Mr. Sam Wright (Olympia, Washington) to list "distinct population segments (DPSs)" of canary rockfish, and 4 other rockfishes in Puget Sound, as endangered or threatened species under the ESA and to designate critical habitat. We found that this petition also did not present substantial scientific or commercial information to suggest that the petitioned actions may be warranted (72 FR 56986; October 5, 2007). On October 29, 2007, we received a letter from Mr. Wright presenting information that was not included in the April 2007 petition, and requesting reconsideration of the decision not to initiate a review of the species' status. We considered the supplemental information as a new petition and concluded that there was enough information in this new petition to warrant conducting status reviews of these rockfishes. The status review was initiated on March 17, 2008 (73 FR 14195).

In February 1999, we received a petition from Mr. Sam Wright of Olympia, Washington to list 18 species of marine fishes in Puget Sound, including this species, under the ESA. On June 21, 1999, we found that there was insufficient information concerning stock structure, status, and trends for this species to suggest that listing this species may be warranted (64 FR 33037).

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Scorpaeniformes
Family: Sebastidae
Genus: Sebastes
Species: pinniger (All documents are in PDF format.)

Title	Federal Register	Date
Proposed Rule to Delist Puget Sound/Georgia Basin DPS of Canary Rockfish	81 FR 43979	07/06/2016
Designation of Critical Habitat for Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin DPSs of Yelloweye Rockfish, Canary Rockfish, and Bocaccio	79 FR 68041	11/13/2014
Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat	78 FR 47635	08/06/2013
Status Review of 5 Rockfish Species in Puget Sound, WA		12/2010
Final Rule to List the Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin DPS as Threatened Under the ESA	75 FR 22276	04/28/2010
Proposed Rule to List the Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin DPS as Threatened Under the ESA	74 FR 18516	04/23/2009
2008: 90-Day Finding on a Petition to List 5 Rockfish Species in the Puget Sound Under the Endangered Species Act	73 FR 14195	03/17/2008
2007: 90-Day Finding on a Petition to List 5 Rockfish Species in the Puget Sound Under the ESA	72 FR 56986	10/05/2007
1999: 90-Day Finding on a Petition to List 18 Fishes in the Puget Sound Under the ESA	64 FR 33037	06/21/1999

• NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center Canary Rockfish Information
• NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center: Status of the U.S. Canary Rockfish Resource in 2005
• Guide to Rockfishes (Scorpaenidae) of the Genera Sebastes, Sebastolobus, and Adelosebastes of the Northeast Pacific Ocean, 2nd Edition (NOAA Tech Memo NMFS-AFSC-117)

Updated: July 6, 2016