200-Year-Old Rockfish Is Largest Fish Caught In Alaska At 40 Pounds: Oldest Rockfish Ever Found?

A 200-year-old rockfish was caught off the coast of Alaska by Henry Liebman, a real estate developer from Seattle. The shortraker rockfish was found 10 miles off the coast of Sitka, Alaska. Its size indicates that the fish could be over 200 years old, and possibly the oldest rockfish ever found. It is also the largest fish caught recreationally in Alaska.

"I think it's just a kick. You know for some people something so old is out of their perspective. So you have fun with it," Liebman told ABC News.

To give the fish's age some context, it may have been born when President James Madison lived in the White House and Americans occupied Fort George in Canada as a result of the War of 1812, The Scientific American reports.

A sample of the rockfish was sent to a lab in Juneau, where the actual age of Liebman's fish will be determined, according to the Sentinel. Scientists will estimate the age of the fish by examining an ear bone.

"The rockfish's ear bone grows one ring for every year it lives just like a tree would," explained Julie Speegle, a public affairs officer for the National Marine Fisheries Service. "By counting these rings we can determine its exact age."

Troy Tydingco of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says that the oldest reported shortraker rockfish (Sebastes borealis) is 175 years, but that fish "was quite a bit smaller than the one Henry caught."

"That fish was 32-and-a-half inches [83 centimeters] long, where Henry's was almost 41 inches [104 cm], so his could be substantially older," Tydingco said.

Unlike other species, which stop growing at adulthood, rockfish continue to grow as they age, ABC News reports.

Liebman's fish may also set a record for the largest rockfish ever caught, weighing in at 39.08 pounds (17.73 kilograms).

"It's the largest fish ever caught by recreational fishing in Alaska. It's a new state record," said Speegle.

Liebman plans to have the fish mounted, so he can continue to tell his fish story, The Sentinel reports.