Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) or black cod, as they are commonly called, are not related to Pacific cod but are instead in the family Anoplopomatidae, a family with only one other species, the skilfish (Erilepis zonifer).
A sablefish is slim and long and covered with small scales. It is dark gray or grayish-green on its back and sides and light gray or white on its stomach. It has two widely separated dorsal fins and a tail which is lightly indented in the middle. Sablefish have large mouths with small teeth. They grow quite large and have been known to reach 45 inches (114 cm) in length and 50.5 lbs. (25 kg). An average-sized sablefish weighs 8.1 lbs, (3.7 kg) and is 27 inches (69.1cm) long.
Sablefish range from Alaska and British Columbia south to Baja, California, and west to Kamchatka and Japan, Alaska has the highest concentration of sablefish.
Adult sablefish live on the slopes of the continental shelf and are usually found at depths of 492 to 4921 ft. (150 – 1500 m), but they have been found as deep as 9842 ft. (3000 m). Juveniles live nearshore in much shallower water. Juveniles are pelagic, while adults live near the bottom.
Sablefish spawn in the winter, normally between January and March, but spawning is dependent upon location. They spawn along the continental shelf at depths greater than 3281 ft. (1000 m.) Sablefish become sexually mature between five and seven years, and once they reach sexual maturity, they spawn annually. A female lays 110 eggs per gram of body weight, so an average sized female weighing 3.7 kg will lay approximately 407,000 eggs.
Sablefish larvae drift inshore, and juveniles remain inshore until they reach a size of 12 to 16 inches (30 -40 cm) at the age of two to five years. They then begin to move into deeper water and settle near the bottom, where they continue to grow.
Juvenile sablefish eat zooplankton and small fish, and adults eat fish, squid, octopus, and crustaceans. Survival of juveniles varies greatly from year to year, and biologists believe this variability is linked to zooplankton abundance, which is in turn linked to environmental conditions. Zooplankton thrive during years when ocean temperatures and nutrients produce rich phytoplankton crops for them to eat, and juvenile sablefish then eat the zooplankton, such as krill. When conditions are not favorable, though, zooplankton numbers drop, and fewer sablefish survive.
Juvenile sablefish are prey for many fish species, including Chinook and coho salmon. Sperm whales are a major predator of adults. Sablefish often live as long as 40 years, and the oldest recorded in Alaska was 94-years-old.
Like halibut, sablefish bring a high price per pound to commercial fishermen, and the current value of sablefish in the U.S. fishery is approximately $50 million per year. Most of the commercial catch is exported to Asia, where it is considered a delicacy, but sablefish is gaining popularity in the U.S. Sablefish are primarily harvested by longline or trawling. A small but growing sport fishery for sablefish has developed in Southeast Alaska.
Sablefish abundance has dropped since the 1980s, but with stricter commercial regulations in place, fishery managers consider the population stable. Both state and federal agencies manage sablefish.
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Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. If you like audiobooks, check out her audiobook version of Murder Over Kodiak. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.
Lingcod are found only on the west coast of North America, from the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands south to Baja California. They are common throughout Southeast Alaska, along the outer reaches of the Kenai Peninsula, around Kodiak Island, and in Prince William Sound. They normally live nearshore around rocky reefs from depths of 30 to 330 ft. (10 – 100m), but they have been found as deep as 1000 ft. (300 m). Lingcod usually stay in the same area and often near the same reef for their entire lives, but researchers have tagged lingcod that have moved as far as 500 miles (800 km) from where they were first observed.
Alaska pollock is the largest fishery by volume in the United States and the second most important fishery in the world. The Alaska pollock has been called, “The largest remaining source of palatable fish in the world.”
The Pacific cod fishery gained traction just as the Atlantic cod fishery began to crash. The Atlantic cod fishery lasted for more than 1000 years and was popular even during the Viking period, around 800 AD. The fishery was vital to Europe, Canada, and the U.S., but this widespread popularity of Atlantic cod led to its downfall. Atlantic cod populations survived centuries of human strife, ranging from plagues to wars, only to be fished to the point of annihilation because the many countries that commercially fished cod couldn’t agree on regulations to protect this valuable resource. With Atlantic cod no longer available, fish buyers looked to the Pacific.
According to recent NOAA Fisheries Service surveys of Pacific cod stocks taken only a few years before the population collapsed, the cod stocks in Alaskan waters were stable and were not being over-fished. In 2010, NOAA estimated the BSAI stock at 1 million metric tons and the GOA stock at 0.4 million tons. Biologists have closely regulated the Pacific cod fishery and have erred on the side of caution by setting strict quotas to protect not only the cod fishery but also marine mammals such as Steller sea lions that depend on cod for food.
How much does a pound of halibut cost in your neighborhood grocery store? If you can even find halibut for sale, it probably costs more than $20 per pound, and if you decided to buy it, you expect your butcher to hand you a perfect chunk of pristine, white fish. Pacific halibut is one of the most sought-after food fish in the world. When cooked, halibut has a subtle flavor and a flaky texture, but when fishermen report catching halibut with sub-prime flesh conditions, the news alarms sport and commercial fishermen, fish processors, chefs, and consumers. Chalky and mushy flesh conditions are the two biggest concerns for halibut caught in Alaska.
In addition to body language, red foxes use vocalization to communicate. They have a wide vocal range and produce sounds spanning five octaves. Biologists have divided most of these sounds into contact calls and interaction calls. Contact calls are used when two foxes approach each other or when adults greet their kits. Foxes use interaction calls either during courting or when dominant and submissive foxes interact or during an aggressive encounter. A call that does not fit into either of these categories is a long, monosyllabic “waaaaah” sound made during the mating season, and biologists think this vocalization is a female calling for males.
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other Kodiak mammals, Kodiak red foxes are very large. They have a huge tail, coarse, thick fur on the lower back and tail, and a thick ruff around the neck and shoulders. Most Kodiak red foxes are either cross foxes with a black/brown cross on their back and shoulders, or they are a solid reddish-orange in color. Silver foxes make up a smaller percentage of the population and are striking with black fur, silver-tipped guard hairs, and yellow eyes.
seem to prefer a wild setting, they can thrive even when living near urban populations.