Federal protection proposed for Puget Sound rockfish

The federal government may seek to widen fishing restrictions in Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia in coming years to protect three bug-eyed, deep-water fish species once considered staples of the region's commercial- fishing industry.

The National Marine Fisheries Service Wednesday proposed to seek Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for bocaccio, yelloweye and canary rockfish, slow-growing creatures pushed to the brink by overfishing in the 1970s and 1980s.

Brightly colored rockfish roam cold, dark bottom waters and live longer than most humans. Scientists for years have known the fish were in steep decline, but recent surveys of the Pacific Northwest's inland marine waters convinced them that current threats were worse than they thought.

Even though the state long ago halted commercial fishing and most sport fishing for rockfish, these three species reproduce so sporadically that populations have not rebounded.

In addition, they face continuing threats from abandoned fishing gear that collects on the bottom, and from areas of poor water quality, which can alter the food web. And young fish rear in the same shallow waters and eelgrass beds frequented by juvenile salmon species, which also are in decline.

In some parts of the region, rockfish are now so rare that scientists hunting for DNA samples couldn't find any at all.

"Some of the problems they face have some common threads with other troubled species in the Sound, like salmon and orcas," said Phil Levin, a federal fisheries biologist who oversaw a panel reviewing rockfish. But because rockfish don't move around a lot, they can be even more susceptible to some water quality issues, such as low oxygen levels.

"What really separates them from salmon is there's no question how we got here: overfishing," Levin said

Wednesday's announcement will kick off a yearlong review process, during which the federal government will solicit public comment about whether the fish deserve endangered-species protections. A final decision is expected some time next year, when scientists will decide how to begin trying to restore the species.

Since Puget Sound chinook, chum, killer whales, steelhead and bull trout already are protected by the ESA, many restoration activities designed to help those animals also will help rockfish. Biologists also could consider trying to capture and breed the fish in hatcheries "if we can find any of the few fish that are left," said Rick Gustafson, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist and endangered-species expert.

Rockfish also rise to snag bait at the end of salmon fishing lines. And since they spend most of their lives in such deep water, changes in pressure kill most rockfish reeled in accidentally by anglers, even if they are immediately released.

"In some areas, the only way to protect these guys in their deep-water environment may be to keep fishing poles out of the water," said Mike Sato, a spokesman with People for Puget Sound, a conservation group. "Clearly there's going to have to be a lot more discussion about that."

Craig Welch: 206-464-2093 or cwelch@seattletimes.com