In the U.S., bluefish are landed primarily in recreational fisheries, but important commercial fisheries also exist in temperate and subtropical waters. Wild capture of bluefish by countries in thousand tonnes, 1950–2010, as reported by the FAO

In New Jersey, the large beachfeeder schools are very common and lifeguards report never having seen bluefish bite bathers in their entire careers. In July 2006, a seven-year-old girl was attacked on a beach, near the Spanish town of Alicante, allegedly by a bluefish. Wading or swimming among feeding bluefish schools can be dangerous. īluefish are aggressive and have been known to inflict severe bites on fishermen. As adults, bluefish are taken by tuna, sharks, billfish, seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises, and many other species. 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. In turn, bluefish are preyed upon by larger predators at all stages of their lifecycle. This behavior is sometimes referred to as a 'bluefish blitz”. Bluefish sometimes chase bait through the surf zone, attacking schools in very shallow water, churning the water like a washing machine. They are cannibalistic and can destroy their own young. Depending on area and season, they favor menhaden and other sardine-like fish ( Clupeidae), jacks ( Scombridae), weakfish ( Sciaenidae), grunts ( Haemulidae), striped anchovies ( Engraulidae), shrimp, and squid. They are fast swimmers that prey on schools of forage fish, and continue attacking them in feeding frenzies even after they appear to have eaten their fill. Feeding habits Īdult bluefish are strong and aggressive, and live in loose groups.

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. In the western side of the North Atlantic, at least two populations occur, separated by Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. As with most marine fish, their spawning habits are not well known. Spent bluefish have been found off east-central Florida, migrating north. Bluefish fry are zooplankton, and are largely at the mercy of currents. They reproduce during spring and summer, and can live up to 9 years. to 2 ft.) long, with a maximum reported size of 120 cm (4 ft.) and 14 kg (31 lb). Life history Īdult bluefish are typically between 20 and 60 cm ( 8 in. Along the South African coast and environs, movement patterns are roughly in parallel. 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. By October, they leave the waters north of New York City, heading south (whereas some bluefish, perhaps less migratory, are present in the Gulf of Mexico throughout the year). By June, they may be found off Massachusetts in years of high abundance, stragglers may be found as far north as Nova Scotia. By April, they have disappeared, heading north. East Coast, bluefish are found off Florida in the winter. Periodically, they leave the coasts and migrate in schools through open waters. They also enter estuaries and inhabit brackish waters. They are found in a variety of coastal habitats: above the continental shelf, in energetic waters near surf beaches, or by rock headlands. They are found in pelagic waters on much of the continental shelves along eastern America (though not between south Florida and northern South America), Africa, the Mediterranean and Black Seas (and during migration in between), Southeast Asia, and Australia. Trolling for blue fish lithograph by Currier & Ives, 1866īluefish are widely distributed around the world in tropical and subtropical waters.

Bluefish commonly range in size from seven-inch (18-cm) 'snappers' to much larger, sometimes weighing as much as 40 lb (18 kg), though fish heavier than 20 lb (9 kg) are exceptional. Its single row of teeth in each jaw is uniform in size, knife-edged, and sharp. Coloration is a grayish blue-green dorsally, fading to white on the lower sides and belly. The spiny first dorsal fin is normally folded back in a groove, as are its pectoral fins. The bluefish is a moderately proportioned fish, with a broad, forked tail. Bluefish are known as tailor in Australia and New Zealand, elf and shad in South Africa. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. The bluefish ( Pomatomus saltatrix) is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. Lopharis mediterraneus Rafinesque, 1810.Cheilodipterus heptacanthus Lacépède, 1801.Cheilodipterus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766).

Gator bluefish