See how the Orange Roughy respond to the approaching submersible and lights. Why do they move so slowly?
Video courtesy MAR-ECO project.
When you dine on orange roughy, "you could be eating a fish that was born when Lincoln was president" according to graduate student Krista Baker of Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada.
Although the very top ages of 150 years are debated, evidence indicates this is a long-lived fish. Fishing in waters no longer too deep to fish, where orange roughy live at a slow pace has taken a toll on its numbers. Suddenly appearing in grocery store fish counters in the 80s, today it's harder to find. Even with new fisheries management guidelines, their rate of recovery may be slow since the fish is later to mature and reproduces at low rate.
Orange roughy Hoplostethus atlanticus