Bocaccio Photos Showing this Large Rockfish Threatened by Overfishing

The bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis, is a member of the rockfish family. They are also known as salmon grouper. There are two distinct populations - a southern population off of California, and a northern population off Washington and British Columbia. The southern population has been listed as a Species of Concern due to over fishing. It is a long lived rockfish with a poor reproduction rate and cannot sustain conventional levels of fishing. Juveniles habituate kelp forests, oil platforms and driftwood mats for protection from predators. As they mature they move into deeper water and can grow up to 3 feet long and live to be 45 years old. They are piscivorous, eating shellfish, sardines, quid, and other small rockfish. They are caught by trawling and gillnets. The California Department of Fish and Game has set a regulation limit of two bocaccio per day at a minimum length of 10 inches.

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Picture of a Bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis

Picture #: 017728

Stock photo of a bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis, overfishing by sport and commercial fisheries has left this species critically endangered, California, East Pacific Ocean

Picture #: 005480

Picture of a Northern Elephant Seal, Mirounga angustirostris, feeding on bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis, rockfish swallowed whole, nine-mile bank, San Diego, California, Pacific Ocean

Picture #: 021228

Picture of a juvenile bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis, California, Pacific

Picture #: 025868

Picture of a Bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis, captive specimen, California, Pacific Ocean

Picture #: 011526

Stock photo of a bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis, juvenile, California, Pacific

Picture #: 025867

Picture of a Bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis

Picture #: 017227

Picture of an adult bocaccio, Sebastes paucispinis, threatened, California, Pacific

Picture #: 090566

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