660 



Fishery Bulletin 92(3). 1994 



yftyis. 



Figure 3 



Number of releases (in hatched areas) and recoveries (in circles) 

 of yellowtail rockfish, Sebastes flavidus, tagged off southern 

 Vancouver Island and northern Washington (one specimen re- 

 leased in PSMFC area 3C-US was recovered in Areas 2B-2C to 

 the south of the areas shown in this figure). 



kan specimens ( 1.3% ■) was significantly higher (P<0.05 ) 

 than in the Canadian study (0.26% ), even without sig- 

 nificant commercial fisheries in the area of release. The 

 average length of all Alaskan-tagged fish was 37 cm 

 (22-56 cm). The average length of recovered fish was 

 46 cm (45—50 cm). Based on the lengths, the recovered 

 specimens were probably sexually mature when recov- 

 ered, but probably immature when released. 



Discussion 



The recoveries of Alaskan specimens are congruent 

 with earlier work, which indicated that immature 



yellowtail rockfish can make long distance move- 

 ments (Mathews and Barker, 1983). The Canadian 

 recoveries provide the first evidence that mature yel- 

 lowtail rockfish can also move significantly longer 

 distances than has been previously reported (Carlson 

 and Haight, 1972; Pearcy, 1992). 



The consistent tendency for individuals who trav- 

 elled away from the release points to be caught far- 

 ther south along the coast probably resulted from the 

 bias in the distribution of the fishing effort. For the 

 Alaskan and central B.C. releases, there were virtu- 

 ally no fisheries north or west of the release areas. It 

 is surprising that none of the fish tagged in northern 



