Acadian Redfish

The Acadian redfish is one of several redfish species found in the northwestern Atlantic. This deep dwelling fish is reddish orange in color and reaches lengths up to 20 inches.

Redfish spawn late in life but can live up to 50 years or more. Acadian redfish yield high quality white fillets which are usually available frozen.

This small deep water species is not to be confused with red drum, also called redfish.

Acadian redfish were traditionally harvested in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank's Great South Channel since the 1930s, when the development of freezing techniques allowed fishermen to harvest fish for processing.

American commercial fishing for redfish in the previous century was dominated by otter trawlers fishing out of Maine, Massachusetts, and other New England ports.

United States commercial fisheries for Acadian redfish are managed under the New England Fishery Management Council's Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP).

Redfish catches have fluctuated since the fishery began. Landings of these fish rose rapidly from less than 100 metric tons (mt) in the early 1930s to over 20,000 mt in 1939, peaking at 56,000 mt in 1942. Harvests declined throughout the 1940s and have remained low into the 21st century.

In 2010, American regulators allotted fishermen 15 million pounds of quota, the third-highest of any Northeast species. Demand for the fish has been much lower than fishing capacity, resulting in a lack of fishing effort.

In 2010, researchers, regulators and industry members formed a coalition called REDNET to address the issue. The organization acquired a $500,000 federal grant which the organization hopes will help the industry market the fish to consumers.

Canada also harvests redfish, typically landing fish the Canadian Maritimes. Canada manages its redfish fishery by dividing the northwest Atlantic into management units: the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Unit 1), south of Newfoundland (Unit 2), as well as the Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Maine, Grand Banks (subdivided into 2 units) and Labrador Sea, which comprise five other areas.