BS: old fish

Subject: BS: old fish
From: beardedbruce
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 09:59 AM

What a catch! Giant 90-year-old fish reeled in off Alaska
POSTED: 7:56 a.m. EDT, April 6, 2007

Story Highlights• Ship reels in 44-inch, 60-pound female shortraker rockfish off Alaska
• NOAA scientists estimate age between 90 and 115 years old
• Fish's ear bone contains growth rings similar to those in tree trunks
• It's not the biggest; previously, a 47-inch fish has been recorded

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A commercial fishing boat hauled in what may have been one of the oldest creatures in Alaska -- a giant rockfish estimated to be about a century old.

The 44-inch, 60-pound female shortraker rockfish was caught last month by the catcher-processor Kodiak Enterprise as it trawled for pollock 2,100 feet below the surface, south of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.

The Seattle-based vessel, owned by Trident Seafoods, pulled up an estimated 75 tons of pollock and 10 bright-orange rockfish.

Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle measured, photographed and documented the fish. They removed an ear bone, the otolith, which contains growth rings similar to rings in the trunks of trees.

They estimate the rockfish was 90 to 115 years old.

That's toward the upper end of the known age limit for shortraker rockfish, said Paul Spencer of the science center. Other estimates put the fish's maximum age at 157 years, Spencer said.

The contents of the rockfish's stomach were examined and scientists took tissue samples to measure her reproductive potential. "The belly was large," Spencer said. "The ovaries were full of developing embryos."

Scientists said the specimen is not the biggest on record. A 47-inch shortraker rockfish was recorded, according to the book "Fishes of Alaska."

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: beardedbruce
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 10:05 AM

article with picture

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: mack/misophist
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 12:26 PM

I wish it were possible for them to have just taken a picture and put her back. Age should have a few privileges, don't you think?

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 12:30 PM

It does seem a shame but I suppose she's done well not to be caught before.

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 12:32 PM

Doesn't look a day over eighty!

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: Amos
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 12:34 PM

I believe the old rockfish was near the end of its lifespan. This may have been its way of pulling the plug. 90-115 years. Just think of that! Born before Fords, the TVA, before even Eisenhower, before radio. That was one old fish, all right.


A

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: Bee
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 02:47 PM

Maybe she was near the end, Amos, but she had a belly full of potential young, no doubt of good stock, given their mother's apparent genetic fitness.

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: Amos
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 03:05 PM

Aw, now that's a shame. Imagine having a mother give you birth and her a century old!!


A

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: kendall
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 07:45 PM

If she was pulled up from deep water she may have bloated so much that she would have died anyway. I'm not familiar with that species of fish, but we have one called Hake, and when they are hauled up from the deep, they "turn their poke". Their insides come out of their mouth so it would be pointless to throw them back.

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 07:51 PM

And as the old fella likes to point out - there's no Sunset Lodge in nature ...


"Born before Fords, the TVA, before even Eisenhower, before radio."

Yes, that old fish saw a lot of changes in her time ...


(Boy, I miss the ol' TVA!).

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: frogprince
Date: 06 Apr 07 - 08:47 PM

I remember my great aunt telling us that she went to Sea World and saw a turtle that was 10,000 years old.



(I have a number of scruffy relatives, but to date she has been the only genuine "whack job".)

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 03:15 PM

Maybe she meant 10,000 TURTLE years.

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: mick p r.m s.c
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 03:42 PM

SO, how many turtle years to one human year.Sorry but someone was going to ask the question sooner or later and I thought well to hell with it.
                   CHEERS MICK.

Subject: RE: BS: old fish
From: gnu
Date: 07 Apr 07 - 04:33 PM

Well, it is kinda sad. Ya live 90 years and and your 15 minutes of fame are about your life.... ending? At least, I hope they chose a decent wine.