A Fascinating Story Behind the Pacific Ocean Perch

The marketing of a fish called Pacific Ocean Perch, or POP, is a fascinating story, one that share in detail in my book, The Rise and Fall of the Pacific Ocean Perch. In it, I describe how the “Rosie’s,” as Oregon’s trawl fishermen affectionately called them, helped launch a new fishery in the United States.

When I gave copies of the book to some neighbors, I was a little disappointed that it didn’t spark the enthusiasm I had hoped for. It occurred to me that perhaps a simpler explanation of why this fish was so important might help more people appreciate the story.

After World War II, as the massive wartime demand for food began to fade, the yellow perch fisheries of the Great Lakes collapsed. Yet the public’s appetite for yellow perch did not disappear. On the East Coast, there are four species of rockfish. Consumers soon discovered that one of these species tasted just as good, if not better, than yellow perch. The only noticeable difference was the skin color: red instead of yellow. Once they learned the fish came from the ocean, customers were satisfied. And so, the marketing name “ocean perch” was born.

Meanwhile, on the Pacific Coast, Oregon fishermen were frequently asked to fish in deeper waters to catch flatfish species like Dover sole. Whenever these trips occurred, the state of Oregon would send a biologist along to tag Dover sole caught in deep waters.

In 1959, a young fisheries student named Lee Alverson, who would later become my boss, was attending the University of Washington’s College of Fisheries and working part time with Oregon State Fisheries. He was assigned to go to sea aboard the fishing vessel Harold A. to help tag Dover sole.

During one trip, the crew made a haul with an otter trawl, sweeping the ocean bottom at about 90 fathoms (540 feet). When the net came up, it contained an astonishing 10,000 pounds of rockfish. The catch was dominated by a single species.

The skipper turned to Lee and asked, “What’s the name of that fish?”

With around 60 species of rockfish along the West Coast, identifying it was not simple. Lee pulled out his guides and worked through the keys. Eventually, he identified the species as the long-jaw rockfish (Sebastodes alutus).

Armed with this information, the fishermen took a load of long-jaw rockfish to a processing plant and asked them to find a market for it. The plant quickly realized that the East Coast market was already buying a product called “ocean perch” as a yellow perch substitute. They decided to market the long-jaw rockfish under the same name, and it worked.