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By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews
Pacific salmon, long an economic and cultural mainstay of life along the Oregon coast, are facing significant competition from an increasingly popular fish that is flourishing as ocean temperatures rise.
That’s a prime takeaway from new research showing that juvenile sablefish, sometimes known as black cod, are expanding their range into near-shore areas traditionally dominated by juvenile salmon just entering the ocean.
The findings, drawn on a quarter century of research and published in the journal Marine and Coastal Fisheries, show that the voracious appetites of young sablefish are putting them at a distinct advantage over juvenile salmon.
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“Sablefish are one of the fastest growing fish in the world in their youngest stages,” said Elizabeth Daly, the study’s lead author and ecologist with the joint NOAA-Oregon State University Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem and Resources Studies in Newport. “It appears they are rapidly increasing in numbers in areas where juvenile salmon are, and they are eating way more than salmon.”
Both species spend their earliest years in the same near-shore waters, meaning the competition found so far is going to continue. And that competition comes at a particularly bad time for young salmon, Daly said, which need to grow as quickly as they can to avoid predators.
Adult sablefish live for many years in deep offshore waters along the ocean floor. Juvenile sablefish — like young salmon — first feed and grow along the highest layers of water near the surface that teem with life. Sablefish are voracious eaters, often consuming large prey and lots of it.
“They are around the same size as juvenile salmon, but they can eat bigger prey and much more prey than salmon can at the same size,” said Daly. “If salmon have a competitor coming in during warmer ocean conditions, when they are already facing a diminished food supply, that’s a pinch point right there.”
Growing market share
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While Oregon’s commercial salmon fishery remains one of its strongest single economic segments, the market for sablefish has soared in recent years.
“Dungeness crab is higher overall due to more volume,” said Lynn Mattes, who manages the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s marine fisheries program. “But in terms of commercial value, sablefish has the highest value per pound of any species we regulate.”
In 2013, for instance, fishing vessels reported catching just over 3.8 million pounds of sablefish, according to ODFW statistics. By 2022, that figure had rocketed to more than 50.8 million.
The dollar figures associated with sablefish harvest also increased markedly, from nearly $7.6 million in 2013 to more than $102.7 million in 2022.
The same explosive growth has been reported in the coastal waters off both Alaska and British Columbia, Mattes said.
And while the reasons for those soaring numbers aren’t entirely clear, she added, it’s thought they may be tied to the 2015 extreme marine heat wave, which provided conditions excellent for sablefish expansion, but was not so great for Dungeness crab and salmon.
Across their habitat range, sablefish are so plentiful right now that regulating authorities in Oregon tripled commercial quotas from last year, Mattes said. Those increases come at a time in the post-Covid economy when the state’s commercial fishing industry is looking for more and diversified ways to market their products.
“Sablefish are still considered a delicacy, but even recreational anglers are getting into it,” she said. “They are still offshore, which presents harvesting challenges, but the interest from people who want to expand into sablefish is definitely there.”
Uncertainties ahead
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Despite quota increases, commercial fishers are still deciding how aggressively they may want to expand into fishing for sablefish, said Mark Newell, a long-time Newport fisherman and fish processor.
“We are just not sure what the increase in quotas will mean for the market,” he said. “I’m sure it’ll drive prices down quite a bit, but we just don’t know by how much.”
From the consumer’s viewpoint, sablefish hold considerable promise, Newell said. The fish is very oily, especially when compared to salmon, but hold up very well frozen, smoked or pickled.
“It’s my favorite fish,” he said. “I can pull a piece out after it’s been in the freezer for two years and it’s still perfect. You wouldn’t even know it’s been frozen.”
Currently, the bulk of the West Coast’s sablefish harvest goes overseas to markets in Japan and elsewhere, Newell said. What remains here – it only rarely pops up in local fish markets – needs some explaining to the curious.
“The problem is that people just don’t know how to cook it,” he said. “Once I explain the process to them, they usually end up loving it.”
- Dana Tims is an Oregon freelance writer who contributes regularly to YachatsNews and can be reached at DanaTims24@gmail.com
Black cod is my favorite dish, and so simple to prepare. just add to boiling brine, salted water, cook briefly and that is it. Some seem to like it smoked, but that is a mystery to me as it tastes so good boiled and so simply prepared.
In the above article it states that Sablefish is an oily fish. Does it compare to mackerel fish swith the oily content or does your method of cooking make the fish yummy to eat?
Hey I processed Sablefish in Anchorage, Ak. For years at Alaska Black Cod. Teriyaki BBQ portions and collars. The only way to eat it. Smoked tips and collars too. That’s what I think. Richie
I’ve never heard of black cod. Is it similar tasting to other mainstream cod?