WHITE HAKE
WHITE HAKE
Environment Conditions
Production & Survival
Conservation
Growth & Stock Status
Timeframe of Fishery
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
White Hake are somewhat cod like but have only
two, rather than three, dorsal
fins and only one anal fin. The color varies considerably,
with the back
usually reddish to muddy brown and the belly pale
grey, yellowish or white.
The head is relatively small, snout is pointed
and the upper jaw is projected.
Teeth on both jaws are fine. The eyes are large.
COMMON NAMES
White hake, mud hake, hake.
SWIMMING PATTERNS
White Hake move with a series of muscle contractions
along the body
pushing forward in a snakelike motion.
BREEDING AND FEEDING HABITS
Available evidence indicates that White Hake spawn
at different times
of the year in different locations. In the southern
Gulf of St. Lawrence,
spawning occurs in June and peaks in the later
half of June. It seems
probable that most spawning occurs in winter and
early spring. On the
Scotian Shelf, it is during October and November.
White hake may produce
large numbers of eggs. A female 70 cm long may
produce about 4 millions
eggs, a female about 90 cm long may produce 15
million eggs.
Adult White Hake prey more heavily on fish than
do adult red hake.
Fish eaten are clupeids (mainly Atlantic herring)
and gadids,
especially silver hake, red hake, and longfin hake,
Atlantic mackerel,
argentines and wrymouth.
Off Newfoundland, fish and crustaceans are the
main food source.
HABITAT
The White Hake is a demersal
continental shelf and upper continental slope
species
occurring over mud bottom in cold water at
depths of 200-1000m.
Concentrations are found
in deep parts of the Laurentian and Fundian
channels and on the continental
slope off Nova Scotia. Temperatures of 5-11
degrees Celsius seem to be
favored. The bulk of the population usually occurs
below 200m and tends to move
progressively into deeper water. In Canadian
waters, Hake are found from
southern Labrador into the Strait of Belle Isle and
throughout the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, around Newfoundland, including the
Grand Bank, in the Scotian
Shelf including the fishing banks, in the Bay of Fundy,
Passamaquoddy Bay, and Georges
Bank.
GROWTH
Size at hatching has not
been described but is presumably comparable to that
of red hake which are 1.8-2.0
mm long. Larvae and juveniles are pelagic and
remain so until they are
about 50-60mm long, even 80mm, when they descend
to the bottom in shallow
water. Growth rates of early life-history stages are
unknown but it is suggested
that larvae grow 10-22mm a month and juveniles
grow 25mm a month. White
hake are comparatively fast-growing.
At age 3, their size is 41cm;
4 yrs. 46cm; 5 yrs. 53cm; 6 yrs. 57cm; 7 yrs. 62cm;
8 yrs. 66cm; 9 yrs. 69cm;
10 yrs. 76cm. In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, sexual
maturity for males is about
40cm, females is 47cm. Males are known to
mature now at a smaller size
than during previous years.