SUSTAINABILITY: Not the best choice to catch or eat. Many rockfish are depleted because of historical fishing pressure and the fact that rockfish grow slowly and take many years before they reproduce. Bocaccio are more depleted and slower growing than other available near-shore rockfish species. They are considered ESA (Endangered Species Act) Endangered in Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin and ESA Species of Concern from Northern California to Mexico. Recovery from depletion will take years, even though pressure affecting the species had lessoned due to better management and improved fishing gear for commercial boats.

Range: Baja California to the Gulf of Alaska. Most common between Oregon and southern California

Habitat: Deep-water rockfish. Commonly found between 160-820 ft deep, but have been recorded at depths of 1,560ft. Juveniles are found in shallow near-shore waters and the move deeper as they increase in size.

Description/Natural History: One of the larger rockfish species; can get up to 3 ft long. Long-jaw/ underbite. Colors ranges from rusty reds, bronze, burnt orange to olive and brown- solid coloration- not spots or stripes. Unlike most bony fish, rockfish give birth to live larval young; fertilization and embryo development is internal. Hatching occurs between December through April. Larvae are found in surface waters drifting wherever the current pushes them. Young 1-3 year old fish form schools in shallow waters and head for deeper water as they mature.

Diet: Adults eat small fish, including other species of rockfish, anchovy, sardine and bottom dwelling invertebrates like squid, shrimp and crabs. The larval Bacaccios feed on dinoflaggelates, tintinids and cladoceara, copepods and euphausiids (planktonic shrimp).

Age: mature between 4-6 years or 17 inches long for females. Can live up to 37 years.

California Recreational fishing regs: 3 fish total within the 10 total bag limit for Rockfish/Cabazon/Greenling. Season closes from Jan-March to protect reproduction, when adults can come closer to shore. There is a depth limit for all rockfish to protect endangered Yellow Eye and Cow Cod Rockfish, which is different in different areas of the state: no deeper than 20 fathoms in northern California counties to Point Arena, up to 30 fathoms south of Point Arena to Pigeon Point, up to 40 fathoms from Pigeon Point to Point Conception and up to 50 fathoms in southern California.