Rockfish

Yelloweye Rockfish (Red Snapper)

Yelloweye Rockfish are a common catch off the coast of Vancouver Island. These fish will range from 5 pounds up to 30 pounds. In keeping with their name these fish have bright yellow eyes. Many people call these fish Red Snapper. Their eyes are highlighted with a spine above each eye socket and rough ridges behind each eye. Their coloring is a yellow-orange and the fins are pink with black on the tips. A large spiny dorsal fin is another characteristic of these fish. Yelloweye rockfish are slow growing. A fish weighing 20 pound will be approximately 60 years old.

Ling Cod

Lingcod (Ophiodon elong-atus) belong to the Hexagrammids, a family of fish unique to the west coast of North America. Unlike their name implies, they are not true cods, but are greenlings. They can be found from the Alaska Peninsula/Aleutian Islands south to Baja California. They are common throughout Southeast Alaska, the outer Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak, and Prince William Sound. While found to depths of 1,000 feet (300 m), lingcod more typically inhabit nearshore rocky reefs from 30 to 330 feet (10-100 m). They are characterized by a large mouth with 18 sharp teeth. Their color is variable, usually with dark brown or copper blotches arranged in clusters.

There is a minimum size limit of 65 cm in Areas 11, 12 and 20 to 27. The length of a lingcod means the distance measured along the body from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. The minimum size limit for a lingcod with the head removed is 53 cm, measured along the shortest length of the body to the tip of the tail. The pectoral fins should remain attached.