Brendan Walsh’s orange rock grouper breaks the California record

Last week, on a cold and rainy day, Walsh and his father returned home after catching several yellowtail rock grouper off the coast of Albion, about 150 miles north of San Francisco. However, on the way back, he decided to stop at a deeper water area and unexpectedly caught a large orange rock grouper.

Walsh said he usually catches orange rock groupers that are small and skinny, weighing only about 1.4 kg, but this time the “trophy” weighed up to 4.65 kg and was 68 cm long.

Walsh then sent information about the fish to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which tracks fishing and diving records. He weighed it at a licensed fish market and the state fish and wildlife scientist came to sign off on the records. The current California record is a 4.08 kg fish, caught last November, also in Mendocino County.

Walsh also submitted records to the International Sport Fishing Association, which recorded the current world record as an orange rock grouper weighing 4.54 kg, caught in 1986.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), orange rock grouper (Sebastes pinniger) can live up to 75 years. About 50% of orange rock grouper will reach reproductive maturity at 5-6 years old and reach a length of 35.5 cm. Females can carry from 260,000 to 1.9 million eggs, a very large number compared to many other rock grouper species.

Orange rock grouper mainly lives at depths of 50-250 m, sometimes reaching depths of up to 430 m. Juvenile fish often live in shallower water than adults, feeding on small crustaceans. Meanwhile, adults feed on invertebrates and small fish, including other rock grouper species.