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Mackerel
Habitat
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Saltwater Fishing
Night Fishing
Mackerel
Note: mackerel  are extremely active when you chum and use submerged lighting
at night, in fact many times they go into a feeding frenzy. Also the biggest
mackerel  are caught at night. Click Here for details  on how to sign up for my
newsletter that tells you all about this seldom used technique. Also read
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Description
The Atlantic mackerel is a beautifully streamlined, fast-swimming fish. It has silver
underparts and metallic green and blue upperparts with irregular bands along the
back. It belongs to the same family as tuna, and is a highly commercial species.

Range
Inhabits the north Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Baltic, Mediterranean and Black
Seas. Along the coast of North America it is found from Labrador to Cape
Lookout. There are two main stocks in the north-east Atlantic, the North Sea (east)
and British Isles (west).

Habitat

This pelagic fish lives in the open ocean


Biology

Adult Atlantic mackerels form schools close to the surface; they have to swim
constantly as they 'breathe' by a method known as ram ventilation, which requires
a constant flow of water across the gill surfaces.

They are active mainly in the day, and feed on small fishes such as sand eels
(Ammodytes spp.), as well as small crustaceans, which are filtered from the water.
They spend the winter in deep water, and stop feeding at this time; they migrate
closer to shore during spring.

During spawning, eggs and sperm are released into the sea. Both the eggs and
larvae are pelagic; the eggs have a globule of oil, which keeps them afloat in the
surface waters. Larvae begin to feed on copepods (tiny crustaceans) when they
reach sizes of around 3mm. They will have grown to lengths of 25 cm after just one
year. This is a long-lived species; the maximum recorded lifespan in the North
Sea is 25 years.

Threats

The North Sea and British Isles stocks of Atlantic mackerel declined drastically
during the 1960's as a result of overfishing. Indeed, like many commercial marine
fishes, the Atlantic mackerel faces severe pressure from fishing throughout its
wide range. The overfishing of stocks of commercial fish is a severe and complex
problem around the world, with many well-known species including cod and plaice
in serious decline and at risk of complete collapse. As the technology involved in
fishing has improved and the number of faster, more efficient boats has
increased, populations of fish have decreased further and have been unable to
reproduce fast enough to compensate for the massive losses. The problem can
be summed up as: 'too many boats chasing too few fish'.

Conservation

In Europe, the European Union is responsible for conserving and managing
marine fish and their fisheries, with fisheries controlled by the Common Fisheries
Policy (CFP). However, in the past the CFP has not effectively controlled the
fishing fleets of the EU; furthermore there are complex socio-economic issues
involved in this controversial issue, with entire communities wholly dependent on
the fishing industry. The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas
(ICES) advises governments on the status of fish stocks, yet often their warnings
have gone unheeded. The British Government has limited powers to initiate
marine fisheries management measures. However, a grouped Action Plan for
commercial marine fish has been produced under the UK Biodiversity Action
Plan. This aims to minimise the collapse of local stocks of a number of
commercially exploited marine fish.
Reproduction
Mackerel reproduce from spring through summer, with more northerly fish
spawning later in the season.  The mid-Atlantic Bight and the Gulf of St. Lawrence
represent the two greatest spawning grounds for this species.  Mackerel spawn
near the surface and the eggs float in the water column.  Many males and females
reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 and all do so by 4.  The fecundity (number of
eggs produces in a given spawning period) of females increases as a function of
age and size, with an individual female spawning 550,000 to 1,000,000 eggs per
season.


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