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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 58(6)

Age validation of canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger) using two independent otolith techniques: lead-radium and bomb radiocarbon dating

Allen H. Andrews A F , Lisa A. Kerr B , Gregor M. Cailliet A , Thomas A. Brown C , Craig C. Lundstrom D and Richard D. Stanley E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, California State University, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, CA 93940, USA.

B University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, PO Box 38, Solomons, MD 20688, USA.

C Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94551, USA.

D University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign, Department of Geology, 245 Natural History Building, 1301 West Green St, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

E Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, British Columbia, V9T 6N7, Canada.

F Corresponding author. Email: andrews@mlml.calstate.edu

Marine and Freshwater Research 58(6) 531-541 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF07074
Submitted: 12 April 2007  Accepted: 11 May 2007   Published: 29 June 2007

Abstract

Canary rockfish (Sebastes pinniger) have long been an important part of recreational and commercial rockfish fishing from south-east Alaska to southern California, but localised stock abundances have declined considerably. Based on age estimates from otoliths and other structures, lifespan estimates vary from ~20 years to over 80 years. For the purpose of monitoring stocks, age composition is routinely estimated by counting growth zones in otoliths; however, age estimation procedures and lifespan estimates remain largely unvalidated. Typical age validation techniques have limited application for canary rockfish because they are deep-dwelling and may be long-lived. In this study, the unaged otolith of the pair from fish aged at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada was used in one of two age validation techniques: (1) lead-radium dating and (2) bomb radiocarbon (14C) dating. Age estimate accuracy and the validity of age estimation procedures were validated based on the results from each technique. Lead-radium dating proved successful in determining that a minimum estimate of lifespan was 53 years and provided support for age estimation procedures up to ~50–60 years. These findings were further supported by Δ14C data, which indicated that a minimum estimate of lifespan was 44 ± 3 years. Both techniques validate, to differing degrees, age estimation procedures and provide support for inferring that canary rockfish can live more than 80 years.

Additional keywords: accelerator mass spectrometry, age estimation, alpha-spectrometry, carbon-14, lead-210, radiometry, radium-226, Scorpaenidae.


Acknowledgements

We thank Shayne MacLellan and Darlene Gillespie of the Department of Fisheries & Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C., Canada for providing aged canary rockfish otoliths for this study in addition to assistance with manuscript preparations. Thanks to Melissa Stevens for assisting with processing the otolith samples and age groups analysed in this study, Paula Zermeno at the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for assistance with the bomb radiocarbon analyses, and Kenneth Coale for assistance with data interpretation. This work was supported by the National Sea Grant College Program of the USA Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under NOAA Grant number NA06RG0142, project numbers R/F-182 and R/F-190, through the California Sea Grant College Program; and in part by the California State Resources Agency. This research was also supported by the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry under the University Collaborative Research Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and was carried out, in part, under the auspices of the USA Department of Energy by University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract No. W-7405-Eng-48. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of any of those organisations. The USA government is authorised to reproduce and distribute for governmental purposes.


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