Reef & bottom · Saltwater
Quillback rockfish
Sebastes maliger
Reef-associated Pacific rockfish native from the Gulf of Alaska to southern California, common from southeast Alaska through northern California. Extremely long-lived (documented to at least 95 years in British Columbia) and slow to mature, which several agencies flag as a specific vulnerability to overfishing.
- Nearshore
- Offshore
- Regulated context
- 4 of 4 overlays reviewed
- Reviewed 2026-08-27
Before you target this fish
Regulated context — check the rules for the exact water
Where this applies California; Oregon; Washington; Alaska; British Columbia (Canada)
The reviewed context, unedited
Regulatory status has been unusually volatile and current sources disagree — verify directly with NOAA Fisheries/PFMC and CDFW before relying on any status claim here. Timeline as sourced: a 2021 stock assessment found the California-specific quillback stock below its minimum size threshold; NOAA Fisheries formally declared that California stock overfished on December 14, 2023, triggering a required rebuilding plan. A revised 2025 stock assessment — built on new survey data and recalculated natural mortality — found the stock at 43.5% depletion, above its proxy for maximum sustainable yield; on September 18, 2025, NOAA Fisheries and CDFW eased depth and trip-limit restrictions accordingly. However, as of a Pacific Fishery Management Council document dated for a June 2026 meeting, the Council was still working to formally remove the California quillback rebuilding-plan language from the Groundfish Fishery Management Plan, and NOAA's own 'overfished determination' status page (as reviewed) had not been updated to reflect the 2025 reversal. Separately, in Canada, COSEWIC assessed quillback rockfish as Threatened in 2009 based on 50-75% survey declines since the mid-1980s; Washington closes Puget Sound recreational retention and lists the species as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Elsewhere on the West Coast outside the California-specific stock, quillback is managed within standard rockfish sub-bag limits and depth-based closures that reset at least annually. Given the pace of change, verify the current formal status before advising an angler.
Rules for this fish change at a state line and sometimes inside one. Check the ones that apply to the exact water you are standing on before you act on anything here — this record is biology, not permission.
Take this somewhere
This page is the record. The reading is what happens when you add water, a season and a temperature to it — that is where the families below get ranked against each other instead of just listed.
Those three links carry the fish and nothing else. No conditions were declared on this page, so none travel, and the link says so rather than sending an empty reading.
The half nobody publishes
What this record does not know
Everything else on this page comes from a named agency or peer-reviewed source. This is the other side of that: the questions a reviewer went looking for an answer to and came back without, and the fields the record leaves empty because filling them would mean guessing.
It is here rather than at the bottom because a page that only shows what it knows is easy to read as a page that knows everything. For Quillback rockfish there are 11 of them.
Named by a reviewer
8Somebody looked for this and wrote down that they did not find it.
- Behaviour
Diel activity pattern not documented in the sources reviewed.
Current-facing, flow-response, and cold-front response not documented.
- Identification
Regional nickname list not confirmed against an acceptable source — left empty rather than guessed.
No single continent-wide average adult length found; California and British Columbia figures differ enough that they are reported separately above rather than averaged.
- Forage
No seasonal diet breakdown documented in the sources reviewed.
No prey-size-shift or ontogenetic-shift detail found beyond the broad life-stage pattern above.
- Season
Summer, fall, and late-season entries omitted — no distinct seasonal habitat or behavior shift documented for those windows beyond the general sedentary, crevice-holding pattern.
No sourced thermal band to tie to the seasonal calendar.
Absent from the record
3No reviewer wrote a gap here. The field is simply empty, which is its own answer.
- Water temperature
No agency or peer-reviewed temperature band for Quillback rockfish was found that a review would accept. The reading runs without one rather than borrowing a number from a related fish.
- Identification
No reviewed image. A photograph is only in this catalog when an agency or a named creator labelled the subject, and nobody has cleared one for this species yet.
- Population context
No regional population profile is registered. The species-level reading stands on its own; it does not silently become a local one.
Where the record puts it
Water and range
Nearshore
4 reviewed holding classes- Nearshore reef
- Rock pile
- Kelp edge
- Artificial reef
Offshore
3 reviewed holding classes- Offshore ledge
- Deep wreck
- Canyon edge
DepthCOSEWIC reports 95% of commercial catch between about 14-143 m (46-470 ft); WDFW gives an overall range from the intertidal to 274 m (899 ft). Juveniles occupy shallower nearshore rocky habitat than adults, which move into deeper water and take up largely solitary positions in crevices and holes.
Moving waterHabitat specialist on hard, complex substrate with vertical relief (broken rock, reefs, ridges, crevices); DFO/COSEWIC describes a limited home range with fish returning to the same reef after displacement — not a current- or tide-line-oriented species.
LightNot documented in the sources reviewed for this record.
Thermal band
Temperature
No reviewed temperature band
Nobody publishes a preferred or active temperature range for Quillback rockfish that a review would accept. Borrowing one from a related fish would look like knowledge and behave like a guess, so the reading runs without it and says which parts of the answer that weakens.
How it uses water
Behaviour
COSEWIC and CDFW both describe a limited home range (on the order of 10 m^2 in one cited study) with strong site fidelity — displaced fish have been documented returning to their home reef.
Adults take crustaceans (especially shrimp), small fish, clams, marine worms, and fish eggs; larvae and juveniles feed on planktonic organisms and eggs (CDFW, COSEWIC).
Diel feeding pattern is not documented in the sources reviewed for this record; see gaps.
Depth movementJuveniles settle in shallower nearshore rocky habitat than adults, which range from the surface to about 900 ft, with most commercial catch concentrated at 46-470 ft (CDFW, COSEWIC).
CoverHard, complex substrate with vertical relief — broken rock, reefs, ridges and crevices — is specifically identified as a habitat requirement, not just a preference (COSEWIC).
TerritoryNot documented as actively territorial toward other fish; the dominant pattern reported is a small, defended-by-site-fidelity home range on a single reef (COSEWIC).
Spawning (conservation context)Internal fertilization with mating in December; females can store sperm for weeks before fertilization, and parturition (live birth) occurs April-May in British Columbia (COSEWIC) or April-July in California (CDFW). This is conservation context only — holding water around a parturition-stage aggregation is excluded from target guidance.
Where the general rule stops
- Do not treat a reef holding a concentration of parturition-stage females as a location to target. This reading does not include coordinates, and we never give them.
- Regulatory status for this species has changed multiple times within the past three years and remains disputed between agency documents — treat any status or bag-limit claim as provisional and verify directly before advising an angler.
What it can eat
Forage
- Crustaceans
- Small forage fish
- Mollusks
- Worms / annelids
- Eggs
- Zooplankton
Adults feed on a variety of prey — CDFW specifically names crustaceans (especially shrimp), small fish, clams, marine worms, and fish eggs; COSEWIC broadly describes adult diet as fishes plus benthic and pelagic invertebrates, especially shrimp. Larvae and juveniles take planktonic organisms and eggs (CDFW). Diet capacity is not evidence of a current bait event.
- Feeding style
- Opportunistic
- Feeding zone
- Benthic
By life stage
- Young of year
- Planktonic organisms and eggs (CDFW).
- Juvenile
- Planktonic organisms and eggs, shifting toward benthic prey as fish settle onto nearshore rocky habitat (CDFW).
- Adult
- Crustaceans (especially shrimp), small fish, clams, marine worms, and fish eggs (CDFW, COSEWIC).
Diet capacity is not proof that a particular prey event is occurring at a given time. Observed current forage still comes from a user observation or Hatch Match.
Through the year
Season
Winter
- Where they sit
- Solitary positions in rock crevices and holes on hard, high-relief reef structure.
What that changesDrop-presentation and bottom-contact worked into crevice structure remain the reviewed nearshore families; check current-year closures and sub-bag limits first.
What would count against it
- assuming a specific reef holds a mating aggregation
- assuming the same season/bag rules apply as last year given recent regulatory changes
Mating occurs in December, with females able to store sperm for weeks before fertilization (COSEWIC). This is conservation context, not a location cue.
Spring
- Where they sit
- Hard, high-relief reef structure as parturition occurs.
What that changesDrop-presentation and bottom-contact nearshore; vertical-jig and deep-drop offshore.
What would count against it
- treating a parturition-stage aggregation as a location to target
Parturition (live birth) runs April-May in British Columbia and April-July in California. This is conservation context only (COSEWIC, CDFW).
Spawning · Winter, Spring
As a live-bearing rockfish, 'spawning' spans internal fertilization to parturition. COSEWIC reports mating in December with females capable of storing sperm for weeks before fertilization, and parturition in April-May; CDFW similarly describes late-winter/early-spring mating with births April-July. This is conservation context only.
Recorded as conservation context. No spawning site, staging concentration or migration bottleneck is named anywhere in this catalog, because naming one is how a population gets fished out.
Telling it apart
Identification
What to look at
- Long, prominent dorsal spines with membranes notched more deeply than the similar copper rockfish (CDFW, ADFG).
- Pale yellow or orange markings between the eyes and pectoral fins, plus speckling on the dorsal surface (CDFW).
- Dorsal fin spines are white or light yellow, sometimes with dark brown or black saddle markings; some individuals show brown or orange freckling on the head, though this is less common in Puget Sound fish (WDFW).
- Distinguished from brown rockfish by the lack of a gill-cover spot, and from copper rockfish by the lack of lateral-line bands and eye radiations (WDFW).
- Average adult length
- California specimens run smaller than the northern part of the range — at age 12, California quillback average about 7.1 in (CDFW). Males mature at about 8.7 in (age 4) and females at about 10.2 in (age 6) in California (CDFW); COSEWIC gives 50% maturity in British Columbia at roughly age 11.
- Common angling size
- Legal minimum sizes and sub-bag limits vary sharply by state and are unusually likely to have changed recently for this species — see targetContext before advising an angler.
- Typical weight
- WDFW gives a maximum of about 3.3 kg (7.2 lb) at maximum length; typical landed fish are considerably smaller.
- Maximum documented
- About 24 in maximum length in California (CDFW); WDFW gives a maximum length of 63.6 cm (25 in).
- Longevity
- California fish have been aged to 15 years; Canadian populations reach at least 76-95 years, with females outliving males (about 80 years maximum for males) (CDFW, COSEWIC, WDFW).
What it gets confused with
- Copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus)
- Copper rockfish shares some dorsal-fin notching but quillback's is more pronounced; copper rockfish also shows lateral-line bands and eye radiations that quillback lacks (CDFW, WDFW). Because bag limits in this fishery are species-specific, this is the most consequential confusion pair for anglers.
- Brown rockfish (Sebastes auriculatus)
- Brown rockfish carries a dark spot on the gill cover that quillback lacks (WDFW).
What follows from all of that
Presentation families
Nearshore
Drop presentation
Let a bait fall on a controlled line into cover, along a wall, or through a hole in vegetation.
- place then fall
- watch the line
- hold at depth
- short hop only after the fall
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Short
- Weight range
- 1/16–3/8 oz
- Cover resistance
- High
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- High
Bottom contact
Keep a bait on or just above the substrate along a break, flat, or inside a weed edge.
- feel bottom
- drag or hop
- pause on the break
- stay in contact
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Moderate
- Weight range
- 1/8–1/2 oz
- Cover resistance
- High
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- High
Vertical jig
Work a compact bait up and down through a marked depth, basin, or timber pocket.
- stay over the target
- measured lift
- controlled drop
- watch slack
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Vertical
- Weight range
- 1/8–3/4 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Structure vertical
Hold a presentation in the water column directly over hard structure and stay there as the boat moves.
- stay vertical
- hold the depth band
- short lifts
- reset when the line angles
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- None
- Weight range
- 2–16 oz
- Cover resistance
- High
- Line visibility
- Secondary
- Retie frequency
- High
Offshore
Vertical jig
Work a compact bait up and down through a marked depth, basin, or timber pocket.
- stay over the target
- measured lift
- controlled drop
- watch slack
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Vertical
- Weight range
- 1/8–3/4 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Deep drop
Put bait on the bottom in water deep enough that the drop itself is most of the work.
- heavy enough to go straight down
- know when you are down
- short lift to check
- wind steadily
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- Low
- Casting distance
- None
- Weight range
- 8–48 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Secondary
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
Trolling
Cover a depth contour or basin at a controlled speed to intercept mobile fish.
- speed control
- depth control
- follow the contour
- turn to change action
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- Low
- Casting distance
- Boat
- Weight range
- Varies with speed and depth
- Cover resistance
- Low
- Line visibility
- Moderate
- Retie frequency
- Low
What moves them for this fish
Reviewed rules that push particular families up when the conditions match. Each one names the conditions it needs and why it exists, so you can disagree with it.
Quillback are described as solitary reef-dwellers perched on rocks or sheltering in crevices and holes on structure with vertical relief, so a presentation dropped or held tight into that structure fits better than one worked broadly across open bottom.
When
Nearshore
Moves up
Drop presentation, Structure vertical, Bottom contact
Reviewed 2026-08-30
The same vertical-relief, site-fixed crevice-holding pattern favors a presentation placed and held on structure over one that covers open water searching for fish.
When
Offshore
Moves up
Deep drop, Trolling
Reviewed 2026-08-30
Where every sentence came from
Sources
Agency
California Department of Fish and Wildlife — Quillback rockfish life history summary
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families; identification; behaviour; forage; season. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
COSEWIC (Government of Canada) — Quillback rockfish status report
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families; identification; behaviour; forage; season. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife — Quillback rockfish species profile
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families; identification; behaviour. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
NOAA Fisheries — Overfished determination for quillback rockfish (California)
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families. Read 2026-08-27, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
NOAA Fisheries — feature story on 2025 quillback rockfish reassessment
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families. Read 2026-08-27, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
Federal Register, September 18, 2025 — West Coast groundfish inseason rule
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families. Read 2026-08-27, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
Alaska Department of Fish and Game — Rockfish identification guide
Used for identification. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-12-02.
A source with no link predates the rule that one has to carry a URL. It is still a real citation and still checkable; it just takes a search rather than a click, and that is worth knowing before you rely on it.