Routine large-scale movements of the yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus)

Of the seven species of Pacific rockfish declared overfished in the California Current in 2008, yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus) is the only remaining overfished rockfish species. Part of the original rebuilding plan included designation of a yelloweye rockfish conservation area, a rocky reef closed off the Central Coast of Oregon that is closed to bottom fishing. The yelloweye rockfish conservation area’s ability to help rebuild the population, is predicated on the theory that demersal rockfishes are relatively sedentary. However, in the years since being declared overfished, acoustic tagging studies suggested yelloweye rockfish did not remain in the yelloweye rockfish conservation area. However, where they went remained a mystery. In this paper we describe the use of pop-off satellite tags to conduct a mark-recapture study of 11 yelloweye rockfish tagged within the Stonewall Bank Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Area. We used back-in-time particle tracking coupled with an ocean circulation model in an attempt to increase the precision in the location at which each tag shed off the fish, and further validated that location by associating it to the underlying seafloor habitat type. Ten out of eleven tags were shed from the fish while it was outside the Stonewall Bank Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Area’s boundary. While most fish remained within 50 km of the Stonewall Bank Yelloweye Rockfish Conservation Area, one tagged fish swam to an offshore reef off Central Washington (~40 km from the shore). Backtracked locations were more likely over rock than the initial satellite transmission, indicating the method was effective at identifying tag shed locations. We found no relationship between days at large, fish sex or length and the distance between release site and shed location. Our work supports a growing body of work that suggests yelloweye rockfish have less site fidelity than previously hypothesized.