Big Skate

At a glance

Big Skate (Beringraja binoculata) is an IUCN Least Concern shark or ray regulated in 4 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.

Bag limits are uniform at 1 per angler across the 2 regulating jurisdictions.

Confirmed by 1,052 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with British Columbia, Oregon, and California the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• The largest skate in the eastern Pacific, with a disc width reaching nearly 8 feet.
• Unique among skates: each leathery egg case can hold 2–7 embryos at once.
• Lives on sandy and muddy seafloor from shallow bays to depths of 800 feet.
• Can live up to 26 years, growing slowly and remaining vulnerable to fishing pressure.
• Its empty egg cases, called mermaid's purses, commonly wash up on Pacific beaches.

Where Big Skate are seen

• British Columbia353 iNat obs
• Oregon276 iNat obs
• California202 iNat obs
• Washington180 iNat obs
• Alaska41 iNat obs

Jurisdictions with rules for Big Skate

• AlabamaUnited States · official source
• British ColumbiaCanada · official source
• Federal Waters (DFO)Canada · official source
• Prince Edward IslandCanada · official source

Background

The big skate is the largest species of skate in the waters off North America, and the third largest skate overall. They are found along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Baja California, typically from the intertidal zone to a depth of 120 m (390 ft), and feed on benthic invertebrates and small fishes. They are unusual among skates in that their egg cases may contain up to seven eggs each. This…

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Big Skate article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other sharks & rays on CatchRules

• Atlantic StingrayHypanus sabinus
• Bat RayMyliobatis californica
• Atlantic Sharpnose SharkRhizoprionodon terraenovae
• Basking SharkCetorhinus maximus