08
Apr
How Big Was That Fish
This female, Shortraker Rockfish, was recently caught in the Bering Sea. The term "caught" is very loosely used in this sentence, the fish was actually scooped up by a trawler, the Kodiak Enterprise, a catcher-processor home ported out of Seattle. Their targeted specie was Pollock consisting of seventy five tons. A wide variety of species are taken by these deep water trawlers and classified as "incidental catches". This Rockfish was just one of those incidental catches. She measured out at 44 inches and weighed in at 60 pounds. The estimated age of the fish, taken from data by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle (why is that center located in Seattle if they study Alaska fish) revealed that she was between 90 and 115 years old. Tissue samples were taken to measure her reproductive potential, "the belly was large" and "the ovaries were full of developing embryos" according to a biologist at the center by the name of Spencer. I would have loved to caught this trophy fish, it would have given me great delight to slip the hook and watch it swim off but I guess that is not a option when a fish is taken by a trawler. Members of my family living in the LA area have recently taking to pursuing Northern Pike as a sport fish, which is also a very generous title bestowed upon this specie of fish. Although, they are not real successful at catching any of these elusive predators, they did manage to snag one earlier this fall on a canoe trip. Knowing that I am a non-believer, unless I can witness documentation, they did devise a measuring device which I cannot refute. Although, I could not help myself in giving their tape measure an appropriate name. 
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