Trivial and Mysterious Shortbelly Rockfish Threatens West Coast Trawl Fisheries
An unremarkable and non-marketable rockfish has been showing up in trawl nets off the West Coast this year and in high enough numbers that NMFS notified industry to avoid them.
Shortbelly rockfish is a fast-growing rockfish species that has a relatively short lifespan for a rockfish: roughly 30 years. They also mature quickly, within 5 years, and they grow to reach about 13.5 inches. Until 2018, they were rarely seen in large numbers as bycatch in trawl fisheries. This year, trawl fisheries already...
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