Data are currently limited or lacking for several federally managed rockfish species of the genus Sebastes found within the Gulf of Alaska. This project is related to the core mission of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center as it will provide data which will refine and improve assessment models for these commercially important species. The initial data collection from this project began in 2009 and is on-going. Samples of a variety of rockfish species have been collected from several years and in several locations throughout the Gulf of Alaska. These data are stored in database files (MS Excel or MS Access).

Maximum age data is from ages generated between 1990 and 2020 except Pacific cod, which is limited to collections read after 2000.

Natural mortality (M) is estimated using the method outlined by Hoenig (1983) which uses maximum age to estimate instantaneous mortality.

This data set contains field and genetic identification of rougheye (Sebastes aleutianus) and blackspotted (Sebastes melanostictus) rockfish collected during AFSC bottom trawl surveys. There is considerable difficulty in correctly distinquishing between these species of rockfish in the field. The database contains the field identification of each specimen, genetic identification (true species identification) along with biological information for each specimen including weight, length, and age. Also included is the location and water depth where each specimen was collected.