Saving Rockfish: How Descending Devices Help

Rockfish are an important part of Pacific Northwest fisheries, but they face a unique challenge when caught in deep water. When rockfish are brought rapidly to the surface, the sudden pressure change can cause a condition called barotrauma, which may prevent the fish from returning to depth on its own.

To help address this issue, anglers are encouraged to use descending devices when releasing rockfish that cannot be kept. These tools allow fishermen to return fish safely back to the depth where they were caught, increasing their chances of survival.

Descending devices work by attaching the fish to a weighted line and lowering it back down through the water column. Once the fish reaches the appropriate depth, the device releases it so it can swim away.

Using descending devices helps:

• Improve survival of released rockfish
• Support sustainable recreational fisheries
• Protect long-lived species that take many years to mature

Many Pacific rockfish species are slow-growing and extremely long-lived, with some capable of living more than 100 years. Because of this, proper release practices play an important role in maintaining healthy fish populations.

Today, many fisheries regulations encourage or require anglers to carry descending devices when fishing for groundfish species.

By using the right tools and techniques, anglers can help ensure that rockfish populations remain healthy for future generations of fishermen.

Learn More

Learn More

For additional information about rockfish biology and conservation, explore the Rockfish Rundown from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

🔗 Rockfish Rundown from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
https://www.fws.gov/story/rockfish-rundown

You can also watch our educational video explaining how descending devices help protect rockfish on the OCEAN Resources page.

🔗 Watch the video on our Resources page

SALEM, Ore.— The Commission set 2026 groundfish regulations during their meeting in Salem today.

The daily catch limit for lingcod will increase from 2 to 3 fish next year, since lingcod populations are healthy and bycatch of yelloweye rockfish (a protected species) is still low.

The daily limit for general marine bag limit (rockfish, greenlings, cabezon, etc.) would stay at 4 fish all year in 2026, with a sub bag limit of 2 canary rockfish (up from 1 fish last year). The 4-fish daily limit is necessary due to continued high effort and catch rates for rockfish. In 2025, a planned 5-fish summertime bag limit had to be reduced back to 4 in August and then to 3 fish in September as the popular fishery approached the harvest guideline much earlier than expected.

ODFW continues to work with coastal anglers to understand their preferences for managing black rockfish which are the main driver of the general marine bag limit and season. Some are now leaning toward higher daily limits, even if it means a shorter season — which could influence future rules.   The black rockfish harvest guideline for 2026 is slightly higher than last year but remains well below levels prior to 2024.

After hearing an informational briefing from staff on Columbia River hook requirements and from anglers in favor of a change…

Read more at ODFW

Kelp forests have declined across the world and governments, organizations and businesses are mounting ambitious efforts to protect and restore 9 million acres of kelp globally by 2040.

Still, the dilemma remains: is kelp restoration even feasible, given the billions of purple urchins feasting on the seaweed and eradicating it from the ocean?

“That is the question that keeps me up at night,” said Tristin McHugh, the Nature Conservancy kelp project director. “But what’s the alternative? Do we let this ecosystem lapse into something that can be irreparable? I’ve seen the success stories from around the world. When a culture acknowledges that an ecosystem is worth saving, they will do it. This might be our chance.”

Read more at oregonlive.com

The recovery of Pacific bluefin tuna has achieved a major milestone—the species exceeded international targets a decade ahead of schedule. The rebuilding of Pacific bluefin tuna reflects a fisheries management success. International organizations cooperated across the Pacific to reverse decades of overfishing for the prized species.

The International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-Like Species in the North Pacific Ocean (ISC), including NOAA Fisheries researchers, provided scientific expertise to inform conservation measures. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) adopted these measures.

The ISC recently finalized the new stock assessment at the annual meeting in Victoria, Canada. The assessment confirmed that the stock reached the second rebuilding target in 2021. If the current management measures persist, the population growth is expected to continue growing. 

Read more at noaa.gov

A recent report out of Oregon State University paints a picture of how ocean oxygen levels have decreased in the Pacific Northwest over the years.

The report found near-bottom levels of dissolved oxygen in the waters off of Washington, Oregon and Northern California in 2021. JPR’s Roman Battaglia talked to Jack Barth, professor of oceanography at OSU, about his report and what these low oxygen levels mean for marine life.

Roman Battaglia: One thing I noticed in this study was that the levels seem pretty different in different parts of the coast. For example, in northern California and the southern Oregon coast, the oxygen levels seem much higher than they are in southern Washington and the northern Oregon coast. But why is there so much variability?

Jack Barth: That was the second big outcome of the paper, is that there really are regional differences. And importantly, we can explain them by oceanographic processes. So that higher oxygen level off southern Oregon, that’s because the continental shelf is relatively narrow. So it can flush water on and off pretty effectively from the deep ocean and flush out that low oxygen water so it stays high. And it looks like a pretty good area for fisheries. As you get into the wider continental shelves off central Oregon and Washington, the water sticks around longer; it doesn’t get flushed off as effectively. So that keeps those low oxygen waters near the bottom on those wider shelves.

Battaglia: Have we determined the cause of why these low oxygen levels are happening, or why the oxygen levels are getting lower? It seems like climate change is playing a factor in that?

Read more on opb.org