Rockfish Will Get Species Protection Review

March 18, 2008

Release from: Susan Gordon
The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington)

A team of biologists is scheduled to review the decline of five species of Puget Sound rockfish that Olympia biologist Sam Wright says deserve protection under the Endangered Species Act.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials announced Monday that the agency has formally accepted Wright’s 2007 petition on behalf of bocaccio, canary, yelloweye, greenstripe and redstripe rockfish.

“We’re on the road to getting these things listed,” said Wright, who is confident the biological review will support his claim that the fish are vulnerable to extinction.

Depending on the outcome of the review, NOAA officials could make a listing recommendation by late October.

Rockfish are named for their preferred habitat: rocky, underwater reefs. Scuba divers seek out some varieties because of their attractive colors and markings. Canary rockfish, for example, are bright orange.

Wright, a retired state Fish and Wildlife Department biologist, has three times submitted formal requests for Endangered Species Act protection for various kinds of Puget Sound rockfish, beginning in 1999. Federal officials turned down the first two.

Then, in April 2007, Wright petitioned on behalf of the five species cited. Initially officials at NOAA Fisheries, also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service, rejected it. But Wright persisted. Last October, he provided additional information and requested reconsideration.

The NOAA Fisheries decision to accept the petition was based on Wright’s appeal, officials said.

A hundred years ago, as many as 14 varieties of rockfish are believed to have inhabited the Sound. By the mid-1970s, at least four of those had disappeared. According to Wright, only nine persist.

State Fish and Wildlife Department officials have banned fishing for rockfish. But Wright believes rockfish are still vulnerable because the deep-water fish can’t survive release after anglers accidentally pull them to the surface.

Wright advocates creation of additional marine refuges to keep fishermen out of areas where rockfish typically live.