Whatcom County MRC Project - Bottomfish

Background Infomation

What is a Bottomfish?

"Bottomfish” are a wide variety of bottom-dwelling (“demersal”) fish found in Whatcom County and Puget Sound waters. As adults, they take forms as different as flatfish and spiny rockfish and have adapted to habitats as varied as sand or mud bottoms and steep rocky reefs. Some species like cod and pollock, flounder and sole, lingcod and rockfish are prized. Others like skates, sculpins and ratfish are not as well known, but all these fish have a place in the dynamic balance of our marine ecosystem.

Copper Rockfish
Photo: Wayne Palsson, WDFW

 

The Amazing World of Bottomfish

Adult flatfish like flounder and sole spawn from winter to early spring, with females laying up to a million eggs that float and are carried along by currents. Young flatfish look like other fish until one of their eyes migrates to the other side of their body and they begin swimming on their sides near the bottom with their eyeless side down. Flounder and Sole Factsheet

English Sole
Photo: Wayne Palsson, WDFW

Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) grow to over 40 inches and are fierce carnivores (“ophiodon” means “snake-toothed”). They’ve been found to devour octopi and fish up to 10 inches long. Females lay large masses of eggs attached to rock nests; these eggs are guarded until they hatch by lingcod males against predators. Lingcod Factsheet

Lingcod
Photo: Wayne Palsson, WDFW

Quillback rockfish live up to an amazing 95 years and, once they settle in a rocky area, seldom move. Researchers have moved rockfish up to four miles away from their “homes”, only to find that they will return. Rockfish are unique in giving birth to live young, which float on and feed in tidal currents, then settle in sheltered bays and inlets and then move to deeper water as they grow. Rockfish Factsheet

Quillback Rockfish
Photo: Wayne Palsson, WDFW

The Future of Our Bottomfish

The health and abundance of Whatcom County bottomfish are of top concern not only to state and tribal fisheries managers but also to all Whatcom residents because the health of our fish is an indication of how healthy our waters are.

Compared to the rest of the Puget Sound basin, the populations of bottomfish in the Strait of Georgia and San Juan Archipelago are relatively healthy. Populations of flatfish, like sole and flounder, which are commercially caught by trawling are above; however, once-plentiful Dover sole are critically depressed. Lingcod populations are rebounding from their depleted condition in the mid-1990s. Populations of Pacific cod, once an abundant mainstay of commercial and sport fisheries, are depressed in Whatcom County waters and critically depressed throughout the Puget Sound basin. According to state fisheries managers, the size and abundance of rockfish in Whatcom waters aren’t known. In the Puget Sound basin, however, many populations are considered depressed because there are fewer and smaller fish.

Protecting healthy bottomfish populations and restoring those in poor conditions, which includes improving population abundance and overall health, requires the help of all Whatcom residents and visitors. Harvesting too many fish or too young fish depletes fish stocks. Toxic chemicals that enter the marine food chain through pipes, surface runoff, and contaminated sediments have been shown to accumulate in fish, impairing growth, resistance to disease and reproductive capability. Nearshore activities that disrupt eelgrass and kelp beds in bays and inlets where young fish find shelter and grow take away important nursery areas.

If we want healthy fish to catch and enjoy now and for the future, we need good fisheries management, clean water, and protected shorelines.

(Bottomfish Educational Materials Written by Mike Sato, People for Puget Sound)

This Whatcom County map shows some areas where flounder and sole, lingcod, and rockfish have been found. This map is based on data compiled by Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Marine Atlas (1974),; Squire ans Smith, Anglers’ guide to the United States Pacific Coast (1977); Miller and Borton, geographical distribution of Puget sound fishes (1980); Washington Department of Fisheries, Technical Report 79 (1992); and Palsson et al., Puget sound groundfish management plan (1998). The map was created by People for Puget Sound.

 

 

Background Information
Bottomfish Surveys
Bottomfish Brochure and Fact Sheets
Bottomfish Workshops
Whatcom County Bottomfish Project-Final Report (PDF File)
Next Steps