Mackerel
{{short description|Pelagic fish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{about|the species of fish|its use as food|Mackerel as food}}
{{Other uses}}
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| caption1 = Some species of mackerel migrate in schools for long distances along the coast and other species cross oceans
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| caption2 = Global commercial capture of mackerel in millions of tonnes
reported by the FAO 1950–2009Based on data sourced from the relevant [http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/search/en FAO Species Fact Sheets]
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{{common fish}}
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.
Mackerel species typically have deeply forked tails and vertical "tiger-like" stripes on their backs with an iridescent green-blue quality.{{cite web|url=https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/marine/fish-sharks-skates-and-rays/mackerel| title=Mackerel. Scientific name: Scomber scombrus| website=The Wildlife Trusts| access-date=2022-08-02}}{{cite web|url=https://www.msc.org/uk/media-centre/blog/news/2019/04/10/mackerel-to-fish-or-not-to-fish| title=Mackerel: to fish or not to fish?| website=Marine Stewardship Council| access-date=2022-08-02}} Many are restricted in their distribution ranges and live in separate populations or fish stocks based on geography. Some stocks migrate in large schools along the coast to suitable spawning grounds, where they spawn in fairly shallow waters. After spawning they return the way they came in smaller schools to suitable feeding grounds, often near an area of upwelling. From there they may move offshore into deeper waters and spend the winter in relative inactivity. Other stocks migrate across oceans.
Smaller mackerel are forage fish for larger predators, including larger mackerel and Atlantic cod.{{cite journal|last=Daan|first=N.|title=A quantitative analysis of the food intake of North Sea cod, Gadus Morhua|journal=Netherlands Journal of Sea Research|date=December 1973|volume=6|issue=4|pages=479–517|doi=10.1016/0077-7579(73)90002-1|bibcode=1973NJSR....6..479D}} Flocks of seabirds, whales, dolphins, sharks, and schools of larger fish such as tuna and marlin follow mackerel schools and attack them in sophisticated and cooperative ways. Mackerel flesh is high in omega-3 oils and is intensively harvested by humans. In 2009, over 5 million tons were landed by commercial fishermen. Sport fishermen value the fighting abilities of the king mackerel.{{cite book | year = 2008 | title = King mackerel | edition = 11th | work = Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary | publisher = Merriam Webster | isbn = 9780877798095 | pages = 688 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TAnheeIPcAEC&pg=PA688 }}
Species
Over 30 different species, principally belonging to the family Scombridae, are commonly referred to as mackerel. The term "mackerel" is derived from Old French and may have originally meant either "marked, spotted" or "pimp, procurer". The latter connection is not altogether clear, but mackerel spawn enthusiastically in shoals near the coast, and medieval ideas on animal procreation were creative.{{cite dictionary | title = Mackerel | url = https://www.etymonline.com/word/mackerel | dictionary = Online Etymology Dictionary | access-date = 2012-03-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181222125413/https://www.etymonline.com/word/mackerel | archive-date = 2018-12-22 | url-status = live}}
=Scombroid mackerels=
About 21 species in the family Scombridae are commonly called mackerel. The type species for the scombroid mackerel is the Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus. Until recently, Atlantic chub mackerel and Indo-Pacific chub mackerel were thought to be subspecies of the same species. In 1999, Collette established, on molecular and morphological considerations, that these are separate species. Mackerel are smaller with shorter lifecycles than their close relatives, the tuna, which are also members of the same family.{{cite journal | last1 = Juan-Jorda | first1 = MJ | last2 = Mosqueira | first2 = I | last3 = Cooper | first3 = AB | last4 = Freire | first4 = J | last5 = Dulvy | first5 = NK | year = 2011 | title = Global population trajectories of tunas and their relatives | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume = 108 | issue = 51| pages = 20650–20655 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1107743108 | pmid = 22143785 | pmc = 3251139 | bibcode = 2011PNAS..10820650J | doi-access = free }}{{cite news | title = Tuna and mackerel populations have reduced by 60% in the last century | date = 2012-02-08 | url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120208103226.htm | work = ScienceDaily | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170707065234/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120208103226.htm | archive-date = 2017-07-07 | url-status = live}}
==Scombrini, the true mackerels==
{{anchor|True mackerels|True mackerel|true mackerel|true mackerels}}
The true mackerels belong to the tribe Scombrini.{{ITIS|taxon=Scombrini|id=638253|access-date=10 December 2012}} The tribe consists of seven species, each belonging to one of two genera: Scomber or Rastrelliger.{{ITIS|taxon=Scomber|id=172411|access-date=10 December 2012}}{{ITIS|taxon=Rastrelliger|id=172461|access-date=10 December 2012}}
{{anchor|Spanish mackerels|Spanish mackerel}}
==Scomberomorini, the Spanish mackerels==
The Spanish mackerels belong to the tribe Scomberomorini, which is the "cousin tribe" of the true mackerels.{{ITIS|taxon=Scomberomorini|id=638251|access-date=10 December 2012}} This tribe consists of 21 species in all—18 of those are classified into the genus Scomberomorus,{{ITIS|taxon=Scomberomorus|id=172434|access-date=10 December 2012}} two into Grammatorcynus,{{ITIS|taxon=Grammatorcynus|id=172471|access-date=10 December 2012}} and a single species into the monotypic genus Acanthocybium.{{ITIS|taxon=Acanthocybium|id=172450|access-date=10 December 2012}}
=Other mackerel=
In addition, a number of species with mackerel-like characteristics in the families Carangidae, Hexagrammidae and Gempylidae are commonly referred to as mackerel. Some confusion had occurred between the Pacific jack mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus) and the heavily harvested Chilean jack mackerel (T. murphyi). These have been thought at times to be the same species, but are now recognized as separate species.{{cite journal | last1 = Poulin | first1 = E | last2 = Cárdenas | first2 = L | last3 = Hernández | first3 = CE | last4 = Kornfield | first4 = I | last5 = Ojeda | first5 = FP | year = 2004 | title = Resolution of the taxonomic status of Chilean and Californian jack mackerels using mitochondrial DNA sequence | journal = Journal of Fish Biology | volume = 65 | issue = 4| pages = 1160–1164 | doi = 10.1111/j.0022-1112.2004.00514.x | bibcode = 2004JFBio..65.1160P | url = https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/157092 }}
File:Van Gogh - Stillleben mit Makrelen, Zitronen und Tomaten.jpeg, 1886]]
The term "mackerel" is also used as a modifier in the common names of other fish, sometimes indicating the fish has vertical stripes similar to a scombroid mackerel:
- Mackerel icefish—Champsocephalus gunnari
- Mackerel pike—Cololabis saira
- Mackerel shark—several species
- Shortfin mako shark—Isurus oxyrinchus
- Mackerel tuna—Euthynnus affinis
- Mackerel tail goldfish—Carassius auratus
By extension, the term is applied also to other species such as the mackerel tabby cat,{{cite web | title = Glossary of definitions of cat terms for the breeder | url = http://www.showcatsonline.com/x/glossary.shtml#M | publisher = Cats online | access-date = 2012-04-07 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190109122235/http://www.showcatsonline.com/x/glossary.shtml#M | archive-date = 2019-01-09 | url-status = live}} and to inanimate objects such as the altocumulus mackerel sky cloud formation.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iazUAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT154|page=154|title=Metereology of Clouds|author=Downing, L. L.|year=2013|publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781491804339}}{{cite book|title=Metereology Today|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Dx-BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT153|first1=C. Donald |last1=Ahrens|first2= Robert|last2= Henson|year=2015|publisher=Cengage Learning|page=153|isbn = 9781305480629}}
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Characteristics (Scombridae)
File:Scomber scombrus illustration.png are superb swimmers, and can retract their fins into grooves on their bodies for streamlining. They have deeply forked tails and are smaller and slimmer than tuna.{{cite web | date = 2007-05-01 | title = Species Fact Sheet: Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) | url = http://www.gov.ns.ca/fish/sportfishing/species/atlmack.shtml | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120314152001/http://www.gov.ns.ca/fish/sportfishing/species/atlmack.shtml | archive-date = 2012-03-14 | publisher = Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture }}]]
Most mackerel belong to the family Scombridae, which also includes tuna and bonito. Generally, mackerel are much smaller and slimmer than tuna, though in other respects, they share many common characteristics. Their scales, if present at all, are extremely small. Like tuna and bonito, mackerel are voracious feeders, and are swift and manoeuvrable swimmers, able to streamline themselves by retracting their fins into grooves on their bodies. Like other scombroids, they lack a swim bladder, and their bodies are cylindrical with numerous finlets on the dorsal and ventral sides behind the dorsal and anal fins, but unlike the deep-bodied tuna, they are slim.
The type species for scombroid mackerels is the Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus. These fish are iridescent blue-green above with a silvery underbelly and near-vertical wavy black stripes running along their upper bodies.{{cite web | url = http://www.fishwatch.gov/seafood_profiles/species/mackerel/species_pages/atlantic_mackerel.htm | title = Atlantic mackerel | publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | work = FishWatch | access-date = 2012-03-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120320184708/http://www.fishwatch.gov/seafood_profiles/species/mackerel/species_pages/atlantic_mackerel.htm | archive-date = 2012-03-20 | url-status = dead}}{{Failed verification | date = May 2019 | reason = Both references don't say anything about type species, colors, or stripes, i.e., don't say anything about what these two sentences say at all.}}
The prominent stripes on the back of mackerels seemingly are there to provide camouflage against broken backgrounds. That is not the case, though, because mackerel live in midwater pelagic environments which have no background.{{cite journal | last1 = Denton | first1 = EJ | last2 = Rowe | first2 = DM | year = 1998 | title = Bands against stripes on the backs of mackerel, Scomber scombrus L. | journal = Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B | volume = 265 | issue = 1401 | pages = 1051–1058 | pmc = 1689176 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.1998.0398 }} However, fish have an optokinetic reflex in their visual systems that can be sensitive to moving stripes.{{cite journal | last1 = Shaw | first1 = E | last2 = Tucker | first2 = A | year = 1965 | title = The optomotor reaction of schooling carangid fishes | journal = Animal Behaviour | volume = 13 | issue = 2–3| pages = 330–336 | doi=10.1016/0003-3472(65)90052-7| pmid = 5835850 }} For fish to school efficiently, they need feedback mechanisms that help them align themselves with adjacent fish, and match their speed. The stripes on neighbouring fish provide "schooling marks", which signal changes in relative position.{{cite book | last1 = Bone | first1 = Q | last2 = Moore | first2 = RH | year = 2008 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sLoqT_xWaqoC&q=%22Biology+of+fishes%22++Bone+Moore | title = Biology of Fishes | publisher = Taylor & Francis Group | pages = 418–422 | isbn = 978-0-415-37562-7}} The lateral line also helps with orderly schooling.{{Cite web |last=Terpstra |first=Styze |date=September 27, 2010 |title=The role of the lateral line in schooling |url=https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/9477/1/Biol_BC_2010_Sytzeterpstra.pdf |website=University of Groningen}}{{Citation |last1=Tidswell |first1=Ben K. |title=Different functions for the lateral line in schooling behavior in three fish species |date=2025-01-25 |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.24.634378v1 |access-date=2025-04-24 |publisher=bioRxiv |language=en |doi=10.1101/2025.01.24.634378 |last2=Tytell |first2=Eric D.}}
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File:Pacific Jack Mackerel School, 2007.jpg, usually have vertical stripes on their sides which provide "schooling marks", visual clues that help them stay in formation as they school.]]
A layer of thin, reflecting platelets is seen on some of the mackerel stripes. In 1998, E J Denton and D M Rowe argued that these platelets transmit additional information to other fish about how a given fish moves. As the orientation of the fish changes relative to another fish, the amount of light reflected to the second fish by this layer also changes. This sensitivity to orientation gives the mackerel "considerable advantages in being able to react quickly while schooling and feeding."{{cite journal | last1 = Rowe | first1 = DM | last2 = Denton | first2 = EJ | author-link2= Eric James Denton|year = 1997 | title = The physical basis of reflective communication between fish, with special reference to the horse mackerel, Trachurus trachurus | journal = Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B | volume = 352 | issue = 1353| pages = 531–549 | pmc=1691948 | doi=10.1098/rstb.1997.0037| bibcode = 1997RSPTB.352..531R }}
Mackerel range in size from small forage fish to larger game fish. Coastal mackerel tend to be small.{{cite book | last1 = Lal | first1 = BV | last2 = Fortune | first2 = K | year = 2000 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=T5pPpJl8E5wC&q=%22Pelagic+fish%22&pg=PA8 | title = The Pacific Islands: An encyclopedia | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | pages = 8 | isbn = 9780824822651 }} The king mackerel is an example of a larger mackerel. Most fish are cold-blooded, but exceptions exist. Certain species of fish maintain elevated body temperatures. Endothermic bony fishes are all in the suborder Scombroidei and include the butterfly mackerel, a species of primitive mackerel.{{cite journal | last1 = Block | first1 = BA | last2 = Finnerty | first2 = JR | year = 1993 | title = Endothermy in fishes: a phylogenetic analysis of constraints, predispositions, and selection pressures | journal = Environmental Biology of Fishes | volume = 40 | issue = 3 | pages = 283–302 | doi = 10.1007/BF00002518 | s2cid = 28644501 }}
Mackerel are strong swimmers. Known in the latin family as "punctualis piscis" which translates to "punctual fish." This is due to its punctuality of migration during mating season as it moves from warm to cold waters. Atlantic mackerel can swim at a sustained speed of 0.98 m/sec with a burst speed of 5.5 m/sec,{{cite journal | last1 = Wardle | first1 = CS | last2 = He | first2 = P | year = 1988 | title = Burst swimming speeds of mackerel, Scomber scombrus | journal = Journal of Fish Biology | volume = 32 | issue = 3| pages = 471–478 | doi=10.1111/j.1095-8649.1988.tb05382.x| bibcode = 1988JFBio..32..471W }}{{cite journal | last1 = Wardle | first1 = CS | last2 = He | first2 = P | year = 1988 | title = Endurance at intermediate swimming speeds of Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus L., herring, Clupea harengus L., and saithe, Pollachius virens L | journal = Journal of Fish Biology | volume = 33 | issue = 2| pages = 255–266 | doi=10.1111/j.1095-8649.1988.tb05468.x| bibcode = 1988JFBio..33..255H }} while chub mackerel can swim at a sustained speed of 0.92 m/sec with a burst speed of 2.25 m/sec.{{cite web | title = FAO Fact Sheet: Biological characteristics of tuna | url = http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/16082/en | access-date = 2012-03-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190205223834/http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/16082/en | archive-date = 2019-02-05 | url-status = live}} The Wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) has been known to reach speeds of up to {{Convert|78|kph|mph|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web |title=Top 5 Fastest Fish in the Ocean {{!}} The Speedsters of the Sea |url=https://danawharf.com/blog/top-5-fastest-fish-in-the-ocean/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=Dana Wharf |language=en-US}}
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Distribution
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| caption2 = King mackerels (Scomberomorus cavalla) cruise on long migrations at 10 kilometres per hour (6.2 mph).
{{cite web | title = Pelagic species | url = http://www.pfa-frozenfish.com/pfa2/fish1.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120211174604/http://www.pfa-frozenfish.com/pfa2/fish1.html | archive-date = 2012-02-11 | url-status = dead | publisher = Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association | access-date = 2009-07-22 }}
{{cite web | title = Mackerel | url = http://www.imr.no/temasider/fisk/makrell/makrell/en | url-status = dead | publisher = Institute of Marine Research | access-date = 2009-07-23 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170811181544/http://www.imr.no/temasider/fisk/makrell/makrell/en | archive-date = 2017-08-11 }}
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Most mackerel species have restricted distribution ranges, while others, like the Wahoo, are found in all oceans between 59°N and 48°S.
In combination, these fish (Scombroids) can be found worldwide in all oceans of the world, excluding the Southern and Arctic Oceans. However, the Atlantic chub mackerel has been spotted near Greenland in the Arctic Ocean on rare occasions as global warming makes the Arctic more habitable for them.{{Cite web |last=Katz |first=Cheryl |date=May 10, 2018 |title=Alien Waters: Neighboring Seas Are Flowing into a Warming Arctic Ocean |url=https://e360.yale.edu:8443/features/alien-waters-neighboring-seas-are-flowing-into-a-warming-arctic-ocean |website=Yale Environment 360}}
Some mackerel species, especially pelagic and filter feeding one such as chub mackerel, migrate vertically, staying at certain depths depending on the time of day and food availability.{{Cite journal |last1=Yasuda |first1=Tohya |last2=Kinoshita |first2=Junji |last3=Niino |first3=Yohei |last4=Okuyama |first4=Junichi |date=2023-04-01 |title=Vertical migration patterns linked to body and environmental temperatures in chub mackerel |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0079661123000605#:~:text=Mackerel%20showed%20a%20normal%20pattern,ambiguous%20in%20the%20spawning%20season. |journal=Progress in Oceanography |volume=213 |pages=103017 |doi=10.1016/j.pocean.2023.103017 |bibcode=2023PrOce.21303017Y |issn=0079-6611|url-access=subscription }}
For example, adult snake mackerel, conduct a diel vertical migration, staying in deeper water during the day and rising to the surface at night to feed. The young and juveniles also migrate vertically, but in the opposite direction, staying near the surface during the day and moving deeper at night.{{cite book |title=International Wildlife Encyclopedia |author=Burton, R. |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7614-7266-7}}
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Lifecycle and ecology (Scombroids)
File:Scramble^^ A Gannet begins its take off run. - geograph.org.uk - 1368991.jpgs and other seabirds fuel themselves with mackerel]]
Mackerel are prolific broadcast spawners, and must breed near the surface of the water because the eggs of the females float. Individual females lay between 300,000 and 1,500,000 eggs. Their eggs and larvae are pelagic, that is, they float free in the open sea. The larvae and juvenile mackerel feed on zooplankton. As adults, they have sharp teeth, and hunt small crustaceans such as copepods, forage fish, shrimp, and squid. In turn, they are hunted by larger pelagic animals such as tuna, billfish, sea lions, sharks, and pelicans.{{cite web | title = Forage species | url = http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/4290/en | publisher = FAO | access-date = 2019-05-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181221041523/http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/4290/en | archive-date = 2018-12-21 | url-status = live }}
Off Madagascar, spinner sharks follow migrating schools of mackerel.{{cite book |author=Compagno, L.J.V. |year=1984 |title=Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species Known to Date |place=Rome |publisher=Food and Agricultural Organization |isbn=978-92-5-101384-7 |pages=466–468}} Bryde's whales feed on mackerel when they can find them. They use several feeding methods, including skimming the surface, lunging, and bubble nets.{{cite web | title = Bryde's Whale (Balaenoptera edeni) | url = http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/brydeswhale.htm | publisher = Noaa Fisheries, Office of Protected Resources | access-date = 2009-12-31 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100619094748/http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/cetaceans/brydeswhale.htm | archive-date = 2010-06-19 | url-status = dead }}
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Fisheries
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| caption1 = ↑ Scombroid mackerels
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| caption1 = The chub mackerel is the most intensively fished mackerel in the scombroid family.
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| caption2 = Chilean jack mackerel have been overfished and the population may be in danger of collapsing. Here an entire school of about 400 tons is encircled by a purse seiner.
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File:A bunch of Mackerel freshly caught on a African beach.jpg
Chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus, are the most intensively fished scombroid mackerel. They account for about half the total capture production of scombroid mackerels. As a species, they are easily confused with Atlantic mackerel. Chub mackerel migrate long distances in oceans and across the Mediterranean. They can be caught with drift nets and suitable trawls, but are most usually caught with surround nets at night by attracting them with lampara lamps.{{cite web | title = Chub mackerel | url = http://www.sicilianfishontheroad.com/en/il-pescato-siciliano/il-pesce-azzurro/lanzardo | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130313192422/http://www.sicilianfishontheroad.com/en/il-pescato-siciliano/il-pesce-azzurro/lanzardo | archive-date = 2013-03-13 | url-status = dead | publisher = Sicilian Fish on the Road | access-date = 2012-04-06 }}
The remaining catch of scombroid mackerels is divided equally between the Atlantic mackerel and all other scombroid mackerels.
Just these two species (Chub mackerel and Atlantic mackerel) account for about 75% of the total catch of scombroid mackerels.
Chilean jack mackerel are the most commonly fished non-scombroid mackerel, fished as heavily as chub mackerel. The species has been overfished, and its fishery may now be in danger of collapsing.
{{cite news | title = In mackerel's plunder, hints of epic fish collapse | date = 2012-01-25 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/science/earth/in-mackerels-plunder-hints-of-epic-fish-collapse.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all | work = The New York Times | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181221043313/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/science/earth/in-mackerels-plunder-hints-of-epic-fish-collapse.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all | archive-date = 2018-12-21 | url-status = live}}
{{cite news | title = Lords of the fish | date = 2012-01-25 | url = http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/01/25/7914/lords-fish | url-status = dead | work = iWatch News | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120320194143/http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/01/25/7914/lords-fish | archive-date = 2012-03-20 }}
Smaller mackerel behave like herrings, and are captured in similar ways. Fish species like these, which school near the surface, can be caught efficiently by purse seining. Huge purse-seine vessels use spotter planes to locate the schooling fish. Then they close in using sophisticated sonar to track the shape of the school, which is then encircled with fast auxiliary boats that deploy purse seines as they speed around the school.
{{cite web | title = Fishing vessel types: Purse seiners | url = http://www.fao.org/fishery/vesseltype/140/en | publisher = FAO | access-date = 2019-05-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190506095459/http://www.fao.org/fishery/vesseltype/140/en | archive-date = 2019-05-06 | url-status = live}}
{{cite book | last1 = Gabriel | first1 = O | last2 = von Brandt | first2 = A | last3 = Lange | first3 = K | last4 = Dahm | first4 = E | last5 = Wendt | first5 = T | year = 2005 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ziAI8AZsmUoC&pg=PA444 | title = Seining in fresh and sea water | work = Fish catching methods of the world | publisher = Wiley-Blackwell | isbn = 9780852382806 | pages = 431–448 }}
Suitably designed trollers can also catch mackerels effectively when they swim near the surface. Trollers typically have several long booms which they lift and drop with "topping lifts". They haul their lines with electric or hydraulic reels.{{cite web | title = Fishing Vessel type: Trollers | url = http://www.fao.org/fishery/vesseltype/360/en | publisher = FAO | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190403212959/http://www.fao.org/fishery/vesseltype/360/en | archive-date = 2019-04-03 | url-status = live}} Fish aggregating devices are also used to target mackerel.{{cite web | url = http://www.himb.hawaii.edu/FADS/ | title = The FAD FAQ | access-date = 2019-05-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181029004642/http://www.himb.hawaii.edu/FADS/ | archive-date = 2018-10-29 | url-status = live}}
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| Images and videos |
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| {{multiple image
| align = left | caption_align = center | direction = horizontal | header = | header_align = | footer = | footer_align = | image1 = "Long-lining" for mackerel off Hopeman - geograph.org.uk - 1410170.jpg | width1 = 216 | alt1 = | caption1 = Longlining for mackerel | image2 = Narrow-barred Spanish Mackerel.jpg | width2 = 193 | alt2 = | caption2 = Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, largest of the scombroid mackerels and a fine game fish for sport fishermen }} |{{external media |float=right |width=300px |video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1m6IKiO26c Bluefin Baitball] YouTube |video2=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAyJSH6AAls Atlantic Mackerel Purse Seining 2007] YouTube }} |
Management and conservation
The North Sea has been overfished to the point where the ecological balance has become disrupted and many jobs in the fishing industry have been lost.{{cite book | last1 = Clover | first1 = Charles | year = 2004 | title = The End of the Line: How overfishing is changing the world and what we eat | location = London | publisher = Ebury Press | isbn = 0-09-189780-7 }}
The Southeast US region spans the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the US Southeast Atlantic. Overfishing of king and Spanish mackerel occurred in the 1980s. Regulations were introduced to restrict the size, fishing locations, and bag limits for recreational fishers and commercial fishers. Gillnets were banned in waters off Florida. By 2001, the mackerel stocks had bounced back.{{cite web | title = FISHERY COUNTRY PROFILE: THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | url = ftp://ftp.fao.org/FI/DOCUMENT/fcp/en/FI_CP_US.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170518220246/ftp://ftp.fao.org/FI/DOCUMENT/fcp/en/FI_CP_US.pdf | archive-date = 2017-05-18 | url-status = dead | publisher = FAO }}
As food
File:Mackerel freshly caught.jpg in Cornwall]]
{{main|Mackerel as food}}
Mackerel is an important food fish that is consumed worldwide.{{cite book | title = The California mackerel fishery | last1 = Croker | first1 = Richard Symonds | year = 1933 | url = http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt758005bw&query=&brand=calisphere | publisher = Division of Fish and Game of California | number = Contribution No. 125 from the California State Fisheries Laboratory | pages = 9–10}} As an oily fish, it is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids.{{citation | url = http://www.jerseyseafood.nj.gov/nutrition.html | title = Jersey Seafood Nutrition and Health | publisher = State of New Jersey Department of Agriculture | access-date = 2012-04-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170701033752/http://www.jerseyseafood.nj.gov/nutrition.html | archive-date = 2017-07-01 | url-status = live}} The flesh of mackerel spoils quickly, especially in the tropics, and can cause scombroid food poisoning. Accordingly, it should be eaten on the day of capture, unless properly refrigerated or cured.{{cite web | date = November 2007 | title = Scombrotoxin (Histamine) | url = http://www.foodsafetywatch.com/public/484.cfm | url-status = usurped | publisher = Food Safety Watch | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120713020029/http://www.foodsafetywatch.com/public/484.cfm | archive-date = 2012-07-13 }}
Mackerel preservation is not simple. Before the 19th-century development of canning and the widespread availability of refrigeration, salting and smoking were the principal preservation methods available.{{harvp | Croker | 1933 | pp = 104-105 }} Historically in England, this fish was not preserved, but was consumed only in its fresh form. However, spoilage was common, leading the authors of The Cambridge Economic History of Europe to remark: "There are more references to stinking mackerel in English literature than to any other fish!" In France, mackerel was traditionally pickled with large amounts of salt, which allowed it to be sold widely across the country.{{cite book | last1 = Clapham | first1 = JH | last2 = Postan | first2 = MM | last3 = Rich | first3 = EE | year = 1941 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gBw9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA166 | title = The Cambridge economic history of Europe | publisher = CUP Archive | pages = 166–168 | isbn = 978-0-521-08710-0}}
For many years mackerel was regarded as 'unclean' in the UK and other places due to folklore which suggested that the fish fed on the corpses of dead sailors.{{Cite web|last=McFarlane|first=Andrew|date=2010-08-24|title=Why is Britain braced for a mackerel war?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-11062674|access-date=2022-08-02|website=BBC News|language=en}} A 1976 survey of housewives in Britain undertaken by the White Fish Authority indicated a reluctance to departing from buying the traditional staples of cod, haddock or salmon. Less than 10% of the survey's 1,931 respondents had ever bought mackerel, and only 3% did so regularly. As a result of this trend, many UK fishmongers during the 1970s did not display or even stock mackerel.
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References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite journal | last1 = Ahlstrom | first1 = EH | year = 1956 | title = Eggs and larvae of anchovy, jack mackerel, and Pacific mackerel | url = http://www.calcofi.org/publications/calcofireports/v05/Vol_05_Eggs___Larvae_Ahlstrom.pdf | journal = CalCOFI Reports | volume = 5 | pages = 33–42 | access-date = 17 March 2012 | archive-date = 3 August 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190803033010/http://www.calcofi.org/publications/calcofireports/v05/Vol_05_Eggs___Larvae_Ahlstrom.pdf | url-status = dead }}
- {{cite journal | last1 = Bertrand | first1 = A | last2 = Barbieri | first2 = MA | last3 = Gerlotto | first3 = F | last4 = Leiva | first4 = F | last5 = Cordova | first5 = J | year = 2006 | title = Determinism and plasticity of fish schooling behaviour as exemplified by the South Pacific jack mackerel Trachurus murphyi | url = https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2006/311/m311p145.pdf | journal = Marine Ecology Progress Series | volume = 311 | pages = 145–156 | doi = 10.3354/meps311145 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190427041047/https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2006/311/m311p145.pdf | archive-date = 2019-04-27 | url-status = live | bibcode = 2006MEPS..311..145B | doi-access = free }}
- Bigelow HB and Schroeder WC (1953) [http://www.gma.org/fogm/Scomber_scombrus.htm Fishes of the Gulf of Maine: Mackerel] Fisheries Bulletin, Volume 53, Number 74, United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
- Burton M and Burton R (2002) [https://books.google.com/books?id=wWQw11SLvVwC&dq=Mackerel&pg=PA1517 International Wildlife Encyclopedia] Marshall Cavendish, pp. 1517–1518. {{ISBN|978-0-7614-7266-7}}.
- {{cite journal | last1 = Hays | first1 = GC | year = 1996 | title = Large-scale patterns of diel vertical migration in the North Atlantic | url = http://www.swansea.ac.uk/bs/turtle/reprints/hays_dsr1996.pdf | journal = Deep-Sea Research Part I | volume = 43 | issue = 10 | pages = 1601–1615 | doi = 10.1016/s0967-0637(96)00078-7 | bibcode = 1996DSRI...43.1601H | author1-link = Graeme Hays | access-date = 8 March 2012 | archive-date = 27 November 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201127170319/https://www.swansea.ac.uk/bs/turtle/reprints/hays_dsr1996.pdf | url-status = dead }}
- Keay JN (2001) [http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5938e/x5938e00.htm#Contents Handling and processing mackerel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211010135/http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5938e/x5938e00.htm#Contents |date=11 December 2018 }} Torry advisory note 66.
- {{cite journal | last1 = Masuda | first1 = R | last2 = Shoji | first2 = J | last3 = Nakatama Sand | first3 = Tanaka T | year = 2003 | title = Development of schooling behavior in Spanish mackerel Scomberomorus niphonius during early ontogeny | url = http://www.shinnakayama.com/publications/0671.pdf | journal = Fisheries Science | volume = 69 | issue = 4 | pages = 772–776 | doi = 10.1046/j.1444-2906.2003.00685.x | bibcode = 2003FisSc..69..772M | access-date = 4 March 2012 | archive-date = 9 August 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170809033305/http://www.shinnakayama.com/publications/0671.pdf | url-status = dead }}
- {{cite journal | last1 = Nakayama | first1 = S | last2 = Masuda | first2 = R | last3 = Tanaka | first3 = M | year = 2007 | title = Onsets of schooling behavior and social transmission in chub mackerel Scomber japonicus | url = http://www.shinnakayama.com/publications/0099.pdf | journal = Behav Ecol Sociobiol | volume = 61 | issue = 9 | pages = 1383–1390 | doi = 10.1007/s00265-007-0368-4 | bibcode = 2007BEcoS..61.1383N | s2cid = 56667 | access-date = 4 March 2012 | archive-date = 9 August 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170809033307/http://www.shinnakayama.com/publications/0099.pdf | url-status = dead }}
- {{cite journal | last1 = Nakayama | first1 = A | last2 = Masuda | first2 = R | last3 = Shoji | first3 = J | last4 = Takeuchi | first4 = T | last5 = Tanaka | first5 = M | year = 2003 | title = Effect of prey items on the development of schooling behavior in chub mackerel Scomber japonicus in the laboratory | url = http://www.shinnakayama.com/publications/0365.pdf | journal = Fisheries Science | volume = 69 | issue = 4 | pages = 670–676 | doi = 10.1046/j.1444-2906.2003.00673.x | bibcode = 2003FisSc..69..670N | access-date = 4 March 2012 | archive-date = 9 August 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170809033302/http://www.shinnakayama.com/publications/0365.pdf | url-status = dead }}
- {{cite journal | last1 = Nakayama | first1 = S | last2 = Masuda | first2 = R | last3 = Tanaka | first3 = M | year = 2007 | title = Onsets of schooling behavior and social transmission in chub mackerel Scomber japonicus | journal = Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology | volume = 61 | issue = 9 | pages = 1383–1390 | jstor = 27823518 | doi = 10.1007/s00265-007-0368-4 | bibcode = 2007BEcoS..61.1383N | s2cid = 56667 }}
- SPRFMO(2009) [https://web.archive.org/web/20130227074709/http://www.southpacificrfmo.org/assets/7th-Meeting-May-2009-Lima/JM-Subgroup-VII/SP-07-SWG-JM-02-jackmackerel-speciesprofile-20090430.doc Information describing Chilean jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) fisheries relating to the South Pacific Regional Fishery Management Organisation] Working draft.
{{refend}}
External links
{{wiktionary|mackerel}}
- [http://www.glaucus.org.uk/mackerel.htm Atlantic Mackerel] British Marine Life Study Society. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- [http://www.healthaliciousness.com/nutritionfacts/nutrition-comparison.php?o=15047&t=15052&h=15200&s=100&e=100&r=100 Mackerel nutrition facts]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090710033523/http://www.anglingcentre.net/macktext.html Fishing for mackerel]
- {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Mackerel|short=x}}
{{mackerel|state=expanded}}
{{commercial fish topics}}