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Orange Roughy

These bright orange fish live in the depths of the ocean in underwater mountain habitats and can live longer than most humans. In fact, they are known to be one of the longest living fish species! 

 

Orange roughy can be found pretty much in every ocean, specifically in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and in the Indian Ocean. These bright orange fish can range from 20 to 62 cm (7.8 to 24.4 inches) long and can weigh up to 15 pounds. They live in extremely deep waters, ranging from 450 to 1,800 meters (1,500 to 5,900 feet) deep. Their habitat in these deep waters is primarily deep seamounts which are underwater mountains that often have coral gardens as present.  

Orange roughy have many different prey that they eat, mostly depending on what is available. This prey includes smaller fish, squid, crabs, shrimp, among others that are present in their seamount habitat. It has been observed that the diet of orange roughy changes as they grow and get older. As they get older, fish becomes a greater part of their diet, and once these fish are bigger than 15 centimeters, squid is introduced into their diet. Orange roughy live extremely long lives of over 100 years, at times they have even been reported to live up to 250 years! These fish grow very slowly; once they mature around 20 to 22 years, they come together in large groups over to spawn over sea hills. These fish produce low numbers of eggs and are known to spawn annually. However, some orange roughy might even only spawn once every few years instead. 

 

 

Orange roughy are highly threatened by overfishing due to the ability to catch many at one time as well as their high value when sold. Because they reproduce slowly, these fish are extremely at risk of overfishing. Additionally, because of their long-life spans and late maturity for reproduction, they are particularly vulnerable as it could take so much longer for their population to regrow. Because of their slow recovery rates, these fish have a low maximum sustainable yield, meaning the population can only support a low, long-term average catch without compromising the stock’s ability to rebuild and continue to thrive as a species. 

Despite this low maximum for sustainable fishing practices, because orange roughy is highly valued when caught and sold, there has been continued interest in deep sea fisheries to catch these fish. They are highly susceptible to overfishing and therefore are greatly threatened by overfishing. Orange roughy are also threatened by fishing practices such as trawling that additionally destroy the coral habitats that they rely on. 

 

 

Orange roughy are threatened by overfishing as well as habitat loss and degradation. Countries like New Zealand have reduced the quotas of fisheries that fish orange roughy to reduce overfishing of these fish and to try and created more sustainable fishing practices for this species. Oceana through their responsible fishing campaign work to limit the effects of overfishing and increase the number of fisheries with management plans. Learn more about the work that Oceana is doing for promoting responsible fishing practices and the victories they have had with protecting vulnerable deep-sea habitats.  

 

 

  • Branch T (2006) A review of orange roughy Hoplostethus atlanticus fisheries, estimation methods, biology and stock structure. African Journal of Marine Science. Volume 23: 181-203. Retrieved from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ajms/article/view/33351 
  • Tracey D & Horn P (1999) Background and review of aging orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus, Trachichthyidae) from New Zealand and elsewhere. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. Volume 33: 67-86. https://doi.org/10.1080/00288330.1999.9516858 
  • FishBase 
  • Clark M (2001) Are Deepwater Fisheries Sustainable? – the example of orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) in New Zealand. Fisheries Research. Volume 52: Issues 2-3. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-7836(01)00240-5 
  • Bulman C & Koslow J (1992) Diet and food consumption of deep-sea fish, orange roughy Hoplostethus atlanticus (Pisces: Trachichthyidae), off southeastern Australia. Marine Ecology Progress Series. Volume 82: Pages 115-129.  

 

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