North Pacific hake

Species of fish

The North Pacific hake, Pacific hake, Pacific whiting, or jack salmon (Merluccius productus) is a ray finned fish in the genus Merluccius, found in the northeast Pacific Ocean from northern Vancouver Island to the northern part of the Gulf of California. It is a silver gray fish with black speckling, growing to a length of It is a migratory offshore fish and undergoes a daily vertical migration from the surface to the seabed at depths down to about It is the object of an important commercial fishery off the West Coast of the United States, and annual quotas are used to prevent overfishing.

Its length is about 3 ft (90 cm) and it can live up to 20 years. Its coloration is metallic silver gray with black speckling and pure silvery white on the belly. The North Pacific hake has two dorsal fins and a truncated caudal fin. Its pectoral fin tips usually reach to or beyond the origin of its anal fin. The caudal fin is always concave.

North Pacific hake spawn from January to June. They may spawn more than once per season, so absolute fecundity is difficult to determine. Historically, inshore female Pacific hake matured at 15 in (37 cm) and 4–5 years of age. Currently, length at 50% maturity for females in the Port Susan North Pacific hake population is about 8.5 in (21.5 cm), compared to 11.7 in (29.8 cm) in the 1980s. Females mature at 3–4 years of age and 13.4 to 15.7 in (34–40 cm), and nearly all males are mature by age three and as small as 11 in (28 cm).

They occur from the surface to depths of North Pacific hake are nocturnal feeders that undergo daily vertical migrations off the bottom to feed on a variety of fishes and invertebrates. Their diet includes shrimp, plankton, and smaller fish such as lanternfish. They are an important prey item for sea lions, small cetaceans, and dogfish sharks. The three recognized stocks of Pacific hake are a highly migratory offshore (or coastal) stock that ranges from southern California to Queen Charlotte Sound, a central south Puget Sound stock, and a Strait of Georgia stock. The offshore North Pacific hake stock spawned off south central California to Baja California in January and February during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. In spring and summer, adults migrated northward to feed to as far as central Vancouver Island (and as far as Queen Charlotte Sound in some years). In the fall, adults migrated southward toward spawning grounds. Since the early 1990s, a percentage of the offshore stock has remained off the west coast of Canada year round and some Pacific hake have been observed spawning off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Supported by annual stock assessments such as this, the Marine Stewardship Council certified the midwater Pacific hake (whiting) fishery on the coastal stock in the U. S. and Canada as sustainable in 2009 and renewed the certification in 2014. The local and state managed Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia stocks are "species of concern" species that NOAA Fisheries Service has concerns about regarding population status and threats, but has insufficient information to indicate a need to list the species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). No directed commercial fishery for this stock has occurred since 1991. The National Marine Fisheries Service received a petition to list the North Pacific hake under the ESA. The petition was denied on 24 November 2000 (65 FR 70514), but concerns and uncertainties remained. During the review for ESA listing, the Georgia Basin distinct population segment (DPS) was identified to include both the Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia stocks. The Georgia Basin DPS of the North Pacific hake (called Pacific hake by NMFS) was made a US National Marine Fisheries Service species of concern. Species of concern are those species about which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the ESA. Potential range expansion by Humboldt squid has been a cause for concern, because they are predators of hake.