![]() ![]() ![]() If you can act quickly enough (which is essential) you can even use and inverted, weighted milk crate. – SeaQualizer SeaYaLater Fish-Release Hook (~$20 CAN)” (Recommended by various fishing organizations and publications) – Seaqualizer Fish Release Tool (~ $60 CAN) Automatically opening at preset depth, the motion of the boat or the actions of the rockfish as it descends will not prematurely release the fish.“ Of the different devices available, the most effective and simplest to use is a depth pressure activated release device, the Seaqualizer. This video make the life-saving potential of fish descenders very clear.įrom Island Fisherman Magazine: “Common types of descending devices include a simple, inverted barbless hook, a spring-loaded clamp, and a pressure-release clamp. As stated above, it is now the law to use fish descenders in Canada. The fish could be brought back to depth with barbless weighted hooks, or commercial “fish descenders”. There are studies that prove that if you were to quickly recompress the fish, it would stand a very good chance of survival, even where it appears dead at the surface. This is why Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) are essential, where it is most often illegal to do any hook and line fishing (see restrictions here).īut, what is you accidentally catch a rockfish outside these areas? Click here for my blog on having found back the SAME individual rockfish in the SAME spot after EIGHT YEARS. This means that species are very slow to reproduce whereby, if you catch lots, especially the big females, you can devastate populations very quickly.Īnother nail in the coffin of rockfish is that many adults also have high site fidelity so that by fishing one area, you can wipe out a community of fish. They don’t reproduce until they are at least 12 years old, and the old females can incubate up to 2.7 million eggs! Know that there are 34 species of rockfish off the coast of British Columbia. Many species are extremely long-lived, slow to sexually mature, and the big, old females are the most fertile – producing the most eggs and hatching the largest number of healthy young.įor example, Yelloweye Rockfish are believed to have a lifespan of up to 118 years. I know this is likely a sight that may not enhance your appetite for your rockfish catch but please read on since, contrary to the thinking of many, this IS reversible whereby the rockfish stands a good chance of survival.Ĭolossal “management” errors were made with overfishing slow-growing rockfish. The swim bladder is a buoyancy control organ and even when slowly reeled in from a depth of only 20 m (60’), a rockfish’s swim bladder can expand to three times its size, putting pressure on the fish’s organs.Īs is the case with the Yelloweye Rockfish in the photo, the swim bladder can expand to the point of causing the fish’s eyes to bulge out of their sockets and its stomach to be pushed out of its mouth. Many rockfish species are particularly sensitive to reductions in pressure since the air in their swim bladders expands substantially. BUT this is a reversible condition whereby the fish can survive through use of a “fish descender”. Reduced water pressure causes the air in the swim bladder to expand and push out the stomach and eyes. Yelloweye Rockfish that has died of barotrauma. ![]()
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