![]() Annual quota divided among fishing gear types (fixed gear (longlines and pots) harvests around 85 percent of the sablefish quota and trawl gear about 15 percent).Fishing season from approximately March 1 to November 15.NOAA Fisheries, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Alaska fisheries) and Pacific Fishery Management Council (west coast fisheries) manage the various sablefish fisheries.Ĭurrent management in Alaska is covered under the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Groundfish Fishery Management Plans: Although the results of the longline survey are the main data used to determine sablefish quotas, tag data provide complementary information that enhances survey data. The results show that sablefish are highly migratory for at least part of their lives, and their movement rates are great enough to affect the amount of fish available for harvest in an area. Scientists use data from this program to study sablefish movements. NOAA Fisheries has been tagging and releasing sablefish in Alaska waters since 1972. The west coast sablefish population is at 84 percent of its target level. The Alaska sablefish population is at 9 percent above its target level. Fishery data is collected by fishery observers and through required and voluntary logbook programs. Scientists at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center conduct bottom trawl surveys to assess the abundance of sablefish and other groundfish off the West Coast. Scientists also conduct trawl surveys to assess abundance every 2 or 3 years. NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center assesses the abundance of sablefish through annual longline surveys. Other fish, seabirds, sharks, and whales feed on sablefish. As they grow older, sablefish feed on whatever prey is available, from bottom invertebrates to other fish, squid, and jellyfish. Small sablefish feed on zooplankton (tiny floating animals) in their first weeks of life. Sablefish can live to be over 90 years old. Sablefish are highly mobile for part of their life in fact, some juveniles have been found to migrate over 2,000 miles in 6 or 7 years. In southeast Alaska and British Columbia, juveniles appear in nearshore waters by fall. The hatched larvae swim to the surface after they begin feeding. Their eggs develop in deep water for about 2 weeks until they hatch. Sablefish spawn in deeper water along the continental slope from March through April in Alaska, and from January through March between California and British Columbia. Females are able to reproduce when they are about 6-1/2 years old and over 2 feet in length males are able to reproduce a little earlier, at age 5 and 1.9 feet. Sablefish grow quickly, up to 3 feet in length.
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