Science & Data

The Gulf of Alaska thornyhead complex remain on a biennial stock assessment schedule with a full stock assessment produced in even years and no stock assessment produced in odd years.

The Gulf of Alaska thornyhead complex remain on a biennial stock assessment schedule with a full stock assessment produced in even years and no stock assessment produced in odd years.

In accordance with the approved schedule, no assessment was conducted for this stock this year, however, a full stock assessment will be conducted in 2022. Until then, the values generated from the previous stock assessment (below) will be rolled over...

Rockfish have historically been assessed on a biennial stock assessment schedule to coincide with the availability of new trawl survey data (odd years). In 2017, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) participated in a stock assessment...

NOTE: In accordance with the approved schedule, no assessment was conducted for this stock this year, however, a full stock assessment will be conducted in 2020.

Rockfish have historically been assessed on a biennial stock assessment schedule to coincide with the availability of new trawl survey data (odd years).

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Auke Bay Laboratory (ABL) has released 13,897 tagged SST in Alaska waters since 1992, and over 220 of those fish have been recovered.

Thornyheads (Sebastolobus species) are groundfish belonging to the family Scorpanenidae, which contains the rockfishes. The family Scorpanenidae is characterized morphologically within the order by venomous dorsal, anal, and pelvic spines, numerous spines in general, and internal fertilization of eggs. While thornyheads are considered rockfish, they are distinguished from the “true” rockfish in the genus Sebastes primarily by reproductive biology; all Sebastes rockfish are live-bearing (ovoviviparous) fish, while thornyheads are oviparous, releasing fertilized eggs in floating gelatinous masses. Thornyheads are also differentiated from Sebastes in that they lack a swim bladder. There are three species in the genus Sebastolobus, including the shortspine thornyhead Sebastolobus alascanus, the longspine thornyhead Sebastolobus altivelis, and the broadfin thornyhead Sebastolobus macrochir (Eschmeyer et al. 1983, Love et al. 2002).