Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) are the "heart and soul" of bottomfishing along the northern California coast.
Lingcod are an important component of recreational finfish catch from party boats, private boats, and rocky shores. Most are taken by hook and line, but they are also a favorite species for spearfishing. They can grow large, be challenging to land, and their flesh is tasty. Lingcod range from Kodiak Island, Alaska to Baja California, with the area of greatest lingcod abundance off Washington and British Columbia. Commercial landing data indicate that abundance decreases from northern to southern California, with the sharpest decrease occurring south of Santa Barbara.
In California, lingcod spawning occurs from November to early March. Actual spawning has rarely been observed and presumably occurs mainly at night. Lingcod egg masses are typically located in areas of considerable water movement, which is necessary for gas exchange and prevention of high egg mortality rates. Egg masses have been found adhered to hard substrates in rocky habitats. Most observations of egg masses have been at depths of less than about 60 feet, however recent observations from submersibles in southeast Alaska found egg masses to about 300 feet. Male lingcod establish territories before spawning, and guard the egg mass during incubation. Studies in the Puget Sound area have found that the presence of the male is essential to prevent loss of the nest to predators. Nest guarding behavior by males makes them more susceptible to spearfishing (they don't flee in the presence of a diver) and may also make them more susceptible to angling by striking out at lures more readily than they ordinarily would. Incubation of eggs takes about 7 weeks in the Puget Sound area, and is probably briefer in California. Newly hatched larvae are about 1/3 inch in length.
After hatching, the lingcod larvae rise in the water column and live in the open ocean for about 3 months, until they are about 3 inches long. National Marine Fisheries Service studies have commonly found larvae and juveniles in the upper 90 feet of the water column in the Gulf of the Farallones, with density decreasing with distance from shore. The young lingcod move progressively inshore as they grow. Lingcod lack a swim bladder, and after the pelagic (open ocean) stage they are typically found near the bottom. Newly settled juveniles about 3 inches long are found in sandy areas. At lengths of about 14 inches, they move onto rocky reef areas. Growth of lingcod is rapid. In northern and central California they reach 13 inches total length at age one and attain the present sport fishery minimum size limit of 22 inches as three-year-olds. Adults can be found to depths of 1400 feet.
As bottom-dwellers with cryptic coloration, large pectoral fins, and a large mouth with long pointed teeth (the scientific name Ophiodon literally means "snake-tooth"), lingcod are designed as ambush predators. They are able to rely on surprise to capture fairly mobile prey. Among the stomach contents we have found in lingcod are an octopus tentacle over 1 foot long and a whole striped seaperch about 10 inches long.
Most tagging studies have found lingcod to be relatively nonmigratory. Nearly all lingcod recovered in a Monterey-area study were caught within about 2 miles of the location where they were tagged. However catch data indicate that at least a portion of the adult population occupying deeper habitats (300 feet) annually migrates inshore to spawn. A portion of the adult male population appears to be residential in shallower areas, and is available to recreational fishing year-round; large females with ripe eggs become more frequent in the recreational catch in the fall months before spawning.
On the evolutionary scale, lingcod belong to the teleosts, or modern bony fishes, which are more evolved than primitive fishes such as sharks, rays, and sturgeons.
How are California lingcod stocks doing? The most continuous lingcod data over time are from commercial landing receipts and the catch logs provided by skippers of party boats (also referred to as Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels, or CPFV's). Long-term trends in commercial landings nearly parallel the CPFV log landings, showing a sharp increase between 1964 and 1972, and an oscillating decline since then (see figure).
CPFV log data indicate lingcod catch, percent of total catch, and catch per fishing day peaked in 1972, 1980 and 1989, and have been in slow, oscillating decline since the early 1970s. Since fish populations frequently undergo natural boom-and-bust cycles, we are uncertain if the decline since the early 1970s is a result of natural cycles or if fishing is a significant factor. We are closely monitoring the trends. Divers from the Department of Fish and Game's Central California Sportfish Project reported unusually high numbers of young-of-the-year lingcod in the Monterey Bay area in 1993, so we may see an upward trend in catch in the next few years. - DA
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