Grenadier: Smooth, Shoulderspot, California

Pacific roughy

Grenadiers inhabit the depths of all of the world’s oceans except those of the high arctic. They belong to the family Macrouridae within the order Gadiformes, and, like their Gadiforme relative the cod, are widespread, diverse, abundant, and frequently occur on the upper continental slope. Grenadiers are rarely found in waters shallower than 100 m and actually dominate depths greater than 2000 m in both number of individuals and number of species. Grenadiers are caught incidentally in multiple groundfish fisheries off the US West Coast. Giant grenadier is the most common grenadier species caught in Alaskan waters, although Popeye and Pacific grenadier are also common in Alaska. Pacific grenadier dominates the grenadier catch in California, but Smooth, Shoulderspot, and California grenadier are also caught by California commercial fisheries targeting other species.

The Smooth, Shoulderspot, and California grenadiers each have a low age at maturity, a medium maximum age, and no known special behaviors. The inherent vulnerability of these species are therefore considered a “low” conservation concern.

The stock status is officially unknown for all grenadier stocks in the Pacific Ocean; therefore, the conservation concern for these stocks is moderate. Without stock assessments, the status of wild stocks must be evaluated using fishery landings data. These data may not always be reliable. In both Oregon and California, landings reported by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) differ substantially from those reported by the state agencies in some years. Stock status of all Pacific grenadier species is considered a “moderate” conservation concern due to a lack of stock information.

Overall, bycatch in West Coast grenadier fisheries is unknown because grenadier themselves are incidental catch. Some grenadier are landed in bottom trawl fisheries which tend to catch multiple species due to the indiscriminate nature of the gear. While the nature of bycatch associated with grenadier catch is largely unknown, trawl fisheries that catch grenadier may also catch rockfish (Sebastes sp.). Eight species of rockfish found in US West Coast waters have been declared overfished. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the nature and extent of bycatch associated with grenadier catch in trawl fisheries on the US West Coast, grenadier receives a “moderate” bycatch rank. The rates of seabird bycatch in bottom longline fisheries in Alaskan waters are declining, and the nature of this bycatch remains a “moderate” conservation concern.

Lack of information about grenadier fishing practices and deep-sea ecosystems presents an obstacle to the evaluation of the effect of fishing practices. Most commercially harvested grenadier are caught as incidental bycatch in US Pacific trawl and bottom longline groundfish fisheries. In Oregon, grenadier is caught incidentally, primarily in the thornyhead and dover sole fisheries. In California, Pacific grenadier is often caught by fishing vessels trawling for sablefish. In Alaska, up to 40% of the fish caught by deep-sea trawling, and many caught in the Walleye pollock mid-water trawl operations are grenadier. While bottom trawling causes severe damage to benthic habitats, bottom longlining has a minimal impact on these habitats. Until grenadier fishing practices are thoroughly documented, the impacts of fishing practices for grenadier are considered unknown and of “moderate” conservation concern.

No stock assessments of grenadier species along the Pacific coast have been completed and none are planned. Because grenadier is not part of a directed fishery, fishermen are not required to report catch data or identify individual species. While catch quotas for the “Other Fish” complex exist, these quotas do not specify what portion of the “Other Fish” catch may be composed of grenadier and are therefore ineffective for grenadier management purposes. Grenadier is not managed under any fisheries management plan in Alaska, so there is no quota for annual grenadier landings. Grenadier management in the US Pacific ranks as “ineffective” because there effectively is no management in place for these species.

No listing is available from the Environmental Defense Oceans Alive program

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