LAUSR

The crimson jobfish Pristipomoides filamentosus (locally known as ‘opakapaka’ in Hawaii) is a deep-water eteline lutjanid that supports important commercial and recreational fisheries in Hawaii and throughout much of the Indo-Pacific region. It is one of the most commonly caught species of the ‘Deep-7’ bottomfish species complex in the commercial bottomfish fishery of Hawaii. However, there are currently no validated estimates of median body sizes at sexual maturity that can be used in a comprehensive evaluation of the species’ stock status within Hawaiian bottomfish fisheries. Herein we provide size-at-maturity estimates for the species in the main Hawaiian Islands: median length at maturity of 40.7-cm fork length (FL; 95% confidence interval (CI) 40.3–41.2cm) for females and 34.3cm FL (95% CI 33.3–35.3cm) for males, with respective equivalent median weight-at-maturity estimates of ~1.17 and ~0.70kg (2.58 and 1.55 lb). We suggest these newly available data be seriously considered in any future evaluations of minimum size regulations, currently set at ~0.45kg (1 lb) regardless of sex, for the species’ fisheries in Hawaii.