Bluefish

Bluefish
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Pomatomidae Gill, 1863 [3]
Genus:	Pomatomus Lacépède, 1802[2]
Species:	P. saltatrix
Binomial name
Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms[4]
Gasterosteus saltatrix Linnaeus, 1766 Cheilodipterus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766) Perca lophar Forsskål, 1775 Cheilodipterus heptacanthus Lacepède, 1801 Pomatomus skib Lacepède, 1802 Gonenion serra Rafinesque, 1810 Lopharis mediterraneus Rafinesque, 1810 Scomber sypterus Pallas, 1814 Sypterus pallasii Eichwald, 1831 Chromis epicurorum Gronow, 1854 Temnodon conidens Castelnau , 1861 Sparactodon nalnal Rochebrune, 1880 Temnodon tubulus Saville-Kent, 1893 Pomatomus pedica Whitley, 1931

The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine

Along the U.S. East Coast, bluefish are found off Florida in the winter. By April, they have disappeared, heading north. By June, they may be found off Massachusetts; in years of high abundance, stragglers may be found as far north as Nova Scotia. By October, they leave the waters north of New York City, heading south (whereas some bluefish, perhaps less migratory,^[13][14] are present in the Gulf of Mexico throughout the year). In a similar pattern overall, the economically significant population that spawns in Europe's Black Sea migrates south through Istanbul (Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles, Aegean Sea) and on toward Turkey's Mediterranean coast in the autumn for the cold season.^[15] Along the South African coast and environs, movement patterns are roughly in parallel.^[16]

Life history

Adult bluefish are typically between 20 and 60 cm (8 in. to 2 ft.) long, with a maximum reported size of 120 cm (4 ft.) and 14 kg (31 lb). They reproduce during spring and summer, and can live up to 9 years.^[4][12] Bluefish fry are zooplankton, and are largely at the mercy of currents.^[17][18] Spent bluefish have been found off east-central Florida, migrating north. As with most marine fish, their spawning habits are not well known. In the western side of the North Atlantic, at least two populations occur, separated by Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. The Gulf Stream can carry fry spawned to the south of Cape Hatteras to the north, and eddies can spin off, carrying them into populations found off the coast of the mid-Atlantic, and the New England states.^[19]

Feeding habits

External videos
Bluefish blitz – YouTube
Bluefish Feeding Frenzy – YouTube

Adult bluefish are strong and aggressive, and live in loose groups. They are fast swimmers that prey on

In turn, bluefish are preyed upon by larger predators at all stages of their lifecycle. As juveniles, they fall victim to a wide variety of oceanic predators, including striped bass, larger bluefish, fluke (summer flounder), weakfish, tuna, sharks, rays, and dolphins. As adults, bluefish are taken by tuna, sharks, billfish, seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises, and many other species.[22]

Bluefish are aggressive and have been known to inflict severe bites on fishermen. Wading or swimming among feeding bluefish schools can be dangerous.^[23] In July 2006, a seven-year-old girl was attacked on a beach, near the Spanish town of Alicante, allegedly by a bluefish.^[24] In New Jersey, the large beachfeeder schools are very common and lifeguards report never having seen bluefish bite bathers in their entire careers.^{[citation needed]}

Parasites

Like other fish, bluefish host a number of parasites. One spectacular parasite is Philometra saltatrix, a philometrid nematode in the ovaries. The females are brownish red and may be as long as 80 mm; the males are very small.^[25]

Recreational fisheries

In Australia, bluefish, called "tailor", are caught on the west coast from Exmouth to Albany, with the most productive fishing areas being in the west coast bioregion.^[26]

The IGFA All Tackle World Record for bluefish stands at 31 lb 12oz (14.4 kg) landed by James Hussey near Hatteras, North Carolina.^[27]

Commercial fisheries

Wild capture of bluefish by countries in thousand tonnes, 1950–2010, as reported by the FAO^[28]

In the U.S., bluefish are landed primarily in recreational fisheries, but important commercial fisheries also exist in temperate and subtropical waters.^[29] Bluefish population abundance is typically cyclical, with abundance varying widely over a span of 10 years or more.^[30]

Management

Bluefish is a popular sport and food fish, and has been widely overfished.^[31] Fisheries management has generally stabilized its population. In the middle Atlantic region of the U.S., bluefish were heavily overfished in the late 1990s, but active management rebuilt the stock by 2007.^[32] Elsewhere, public awareness efforts, such as bluefish festivals, combined with catch limits, may be having positive effects in reducing the stress on the regional stocks.^[33]

Culinary use

Bluefish may be baked or poached,^[34] or smoked.^[35] The smaller ones ("snapper blues") are generally fried, as they are not very oily.^[36]

Because of its fattiness, bluefish goes rancid rapidly, so it is generally not found far from its fisheries,