Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.
Hake is the common name for fish in the Merlucciidae family of the northern and southern oceans and the Phycidae family of the northern oceans. Hake is a commercially important fish in the same taxonomic order, Gadiformes, as cod and haddock.
Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally, resulting in the species becoming increasingly underpopulated in that area. Overfishing can occur in water bodies of any sizes, such as ponds, wetlands, rivers, lakes or oceans, and can result in resource depletion, reduced biological growth rates and low biomass levels. Sustained overfishing can lead to critical depensation, where the fish population is no longer able to sustain itself. Some forms of overfishing, such as the overfishing of sharks, has led to the upset of entire marine ecosystems. Types of overfishing include growth overfishing, recruitment overfishing, and ecosystem overfishing.
The goal of fisheries management is to produce sustainable biological, environmental and socioeconomic benefits from renewable aquatic resources. Wild fisheries are classified as renewable when the organisms of interest produce an annual biological surplus that with judicious management can be harvested without reducing future productivity. Fishery management employs activities that protect fishery resources so sustainable exploitation is possible, drawing on fisheries science and possibly including the precautionary principle.
The orange roughy, also known as the red roughy, slimehead and deep sea perch, is a relatively large deep-sea fish belonging to the slimehead family (Trachichthyidae). The UK Marine Conservation Society has categorized orange roughy as "vulnerable to exploitation". It is bathypelagic, found in cold, deep waters of the Western Pacific Ocean, eastern Atlantic Ocean, Indo-Pacific, and in the eastern Pacific off Chile. The orange roughy is notable for its extraordinary lifespan, attaining over 200 years. It is important to commercial deep-trawl fisheries. The fish is a bright, brick-red color, fading to a yellowish-orange after death.
The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America. It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and extends 500–1,000 km (310–620 mi) offshore. The Humboldt Current is named after the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt even though it was discovered by José de Acosta 250 years before Humboldt. In 1846, von Humboldt reported measurements of the cold-water current in his book Cosmos.
Fish stocks are subpopulations of a particular species of fish, for which intrinsic parameters are traditionally regarded as the significant factors determining the stock's population dynamics, while extrinsic factors are traditionally ignored.
Horse mackerel is a vague vernacular term for a range of species of fish throughout the English-speaking world. It is commonly applied to pelagic fishes, especially of the Carangidae family, most commonly those of the genera Trachurus or Caranx. Species known as "horse mackerel" in one English dialect or another include:
The Atlantic horse mackerel, also known as the European horse mackerel or common scad, is a species of jack mackerel in the family Carangidae, which includes the jacks, pompanos and trevallies. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off Europe and Africa and into the south-eastern Indian Ocean. It is an important species in commercial fisheries and is listed as a Vulnerable species on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The Pacific jack mackerel, also known as the Californian jack mackerel or simply jack mackerel, is an abundant species of pelagic marine fish in the jack family, Carangidae. It is distributed along the western coast of North America, ranging from Alaska in the north to the Gulf of California in the south, inhabiting both offshore and inshore environments. The Pacific jack mackerel is a moderately large fish, growing to a maximum recorded length of 81 cm, although commonly seen below 55 cm. It is very similar in appearance to other members of its genus, Trachurus, especially T. murphyi, which was once thought to be a subspecies of T. symmetricus, and inhabits waters further south. Pacific jack mackerel travel in large schools, ranging up to 600 miles offshore and to depths of 400 m, generally moving through the upper part of the water column.
Thyrsites atun, known as the snoek in South Africa and as the barracouta in Australasia, is a long, thin species of snake mackerel found in the seas of the Southern Hemisphere, and a popular food fish in South Africa, particularly along the west and southwest coast. Despite its Australasian name, it is not closely related to the barracuda.
The greenback horse mackerel or greenback scad is a species of jack in the family Carangidae, found around western and southern Australia, and around New Zealand, from the surface to depths of 460 m. Its length is up to 64 cm.
The South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO) is an organization that maintains controls over fishing and fishing related acts in the Southeastern Atlantic Ocean.
The yellowtail scad, is an abundant species of small inshore marine fish of the jack family, Carangidae. The species is widespread in the Indo-Pacific region from east Africa in the west to Hawaii in the east, extending north to Japan and south to Australia. The yellowtail scad is the only member of the monotypic genus Atule and is distinguished from similar species by a well-developed adipose eyelid and finlet-like extensions of the last rays of the dorsal and anal fins. It inhabits coastal areas such as bays and coral reefs, preying on small fishes and crustaceans. Spawning has been well studied in Hawaii, where fish enter bays to spawn, releasing up to 161,000 eggs each between March and October. The yellowtail scad is an important component of fisheries throughout its range, taken by a number of netting and hook-and-line methods. It is a prized food fish in some regions and is cooked or preserved by a variety of methods.
As with other countries, the 200 nautical miles (370 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of the United States gives its fishing industry special fishing rights. It covers 11.4 million square kilometres, which is the second largest zone in the world, exceeding the land area of the United States.
The false scad, also known as the spotfin scad, ten-finned horse mackerel and yellow horse mackerel, is a species of medium-sized marine fish classified in the jack family Carangidae. The false scad is distributed throughout the tropical and temperate waters of the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Namibia in the south to Spain and throughout most of the Mediterranean in the north. The species has an atypical body form compared to other species of Caranx, and can be distinguished from these on its elongate 'scad-like' body shape alone. Distinguishing the species from members of Decapterus and Trachurus is more difficult, requiring detailed anatomical analysis. The false scad is known to grow to a length of 60 cm and a weight of 1 kg. The species lives both pelagically and demersally in continental shelf waters, ranging from depths of 15 to 200 m. It is a predatory fish, taking small fishes, crustaceans including euphausiids and shrimps, and cephalopods as its main prey, with significant dietary shifts as it ages. The false scad reaches sexual maturity at 2 years of age, with spawning occurring between April and July in shallow inshore waters, where the juveniles remain. The species is of major importance to fisheries throughout its range, but particularly from Morocco to Senegal, with annual catches ranging from 500 to 19000 t. The species is caught using trawls, seine nets and gill nets and sold fresh, frozen or salted.
The Cape horse mackerel is a mackerel-like species in the family Carangidae. It is a pelagic species of the south eastern Atlantic Ocean which is a target of fisheries, mainly as bycatch.
The Japanese jack mackerel, also known as the Japanese horse mackerel or Japanese scad, is a species named after its resemblance to mackerel but which is in the family Carangidae, the jacks, pompanos, trevallies and scads. Their maximum reported length is 50 cm (20 in) with a common length of 35 cm (14 in). They have a maximum reported weight of 0.66 kg (1.5 lb) and a maximum reported age of 12 years. They are found around the coast of Japan, except Okinawa Island, usually on sandy bottoms of 50–275 m (164–902 ft) deep. They feed mainly on small crustaceans such as copepods, as well as shrimp and small fish. They are similar to the yellowtail horse mackerel around New Zealand and Australia, apart from having more gill rakers and larger eyes.
The yellowstripe scad, also known as the yellowstripe trevally, yellow-banded trevally, smooth-tailed trevally, slender-scaled trevally and slender trevally, is a species of small inshore fish in the jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae, and the only member of the genus Selaroides. The yellowstripe trevally is distributed throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific region, ranging from the Persian Gulf in the west to Vanuatu and New Caledonia in the east. The species is distinguished by its prominent lateral yellow band, and differs from the scads of the genus Selar in having a smaller eye and different dentition. Although the yellowstripe scad reaches a maximum recorded length of 22 cm, it is normally encountered at sizes less than 15 cm. Phylogenetic studies indicate the yellowstripe scad is closely related to the scads of the genus Selar, although its exact placement in the family Carangidae is less well agreed upon.
The Arabian scad is a species of jack mackerel from the family Carangidae which is found in the Western Indian Ocean.
