Commonly caught off the Washington coast by commercial harvesters using otter-trawls and longline gear.
Description and Range
Physical description
Underwater the body of the rougheye rockfish is pink, tan or brownish with brown or bronze blotches or saddles. After capture they are pink or bright red with black or grey blotches. Rougheye often have a dark blotch on the operculum. They have fins that are red with black edges, especially in juveniles, and long, thin gill rakers on the first gill arch. Rougheye rockfish are identifiable by the 2 to 10 spines that are on the lower rim of their eye. This species is most commonly confused with shortraker rockfish.
Rougheye rockfish can grow up to 97 cm (38 in) in length. Maximum age is at least 205 years old. One of the longest lived fishes in the world.
Geographic range
Rougheye rockfish range from Japan into the Bering Sea, throughout the Aleutian Islands, and south to San Diego, California. In Washington most live at water depths between 150 and 450 m (495-1,485 ft).
Regulations
Rules and seasons
Recreational harvest within Puget Sound has been closed.