Pacific Ocean Perch (Sebastes alutus)

The Pacific Ocean Perch or Sebastes alutus is a fairly common, and quite edible fish found in the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. They are often caught in British Columbia and the Gulf of Alaska in a wide range of depths, from 150-400 meters. These fish tend to inhabit shallower waters in the summer months, and then go to deeper water in the winter months.

Pacific Ocean Perch are white & red with the classic Perch look, normally the deeper they are the redder they get. These fish can grow up to 21" (53 cm) and can weigh 4.5 lb. (2.05 kg). They normally spawn in the fall with the mother being viviparous, much like some sharks. This simple means that the eggs develop inside of the fish, and in this case even hatch in the fish. It will later release the fry into the waters and will soon begin to drift with the current until reaching a large enough size to swim out on its own. These fish are slow growers, but make up for this with their long lifeline which can exceed 90 years old!These saltwater fish will feed on a variety of foods including calanoid copepods, euphausiids, euphausiids, copepods, amphipods and mysids. Pacific Ocean Perch often fall prey to Pacific Halibut, Sablefish, Salmon and Sperm Whales. These fish were heavily over fished in the 1960s, but new regulations have helps maintain a healthy population level even with over 75 million pounds of Pacific ocean perch landed in 2008 alone!

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