Bluefish
Bluefish
Pomatomus saltatrix
Quick Facts
Bluefish. Credit: Shutterstock
Bluefish. Credit: Shutterstock
About the Species
The Atlantic bluefish fishery in the U.S. operates from Maine to Florida. Bluefish are highly migratory along the U.S. Atlantic coast and seasonally move. The bluefish fishery predominantly uses gillnets, but other gear includes hook and line, pound nets, seines, and trawls. The recreational fishery accounts for the majority of the bluefish total catch each year. The market for bluefish is for human consumption and is primarily sold fresh or smoked. U.S. wild-caught bluefish is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations. Implementing regulations are found at 50 CFR part 648 subpart J.
Population
The stock is not overfished.
Fishing Rate
Not subject to overfishing.
Habitat Impact
Recreational fishermen use hook-and-line gear that has minimal impacts on habitat. Commercial fishermen use a variety of gears including trawls, gillnets, haul seines, and pound nets, and the impacts vary by gear type.
Bycatch
Regulations are in place to minimize bycatch.
Population Status
- According to the 2023 stock assessment, bluefish is not overfished - rebuilding and not subject to overfishing. Summary stock assessment information can be found on Stock SMART.
Appearance
- Bluefish are blue-green on the back and silvery on the sides and belly.
- They have a prominent jaw, with sharp, compressed teeth.
Biology
- Bluefish live up to 12 years.
- They grow fast, up to 31 pounds and 39 inches.
- They are able to reproduce at age 2, when they’re 15 to 20 inches in length.
- Depending on their size, females can have between 400,000 and 2 million eggs.
- Bluefish spawn multiple times in spring and summer.
- They exhibit feeding behavior called the “bluefish blitz,” where large schools of big fish attack bait fish near the surface, churning the water like a washing machine. They feed voraciously on their prey, eating almost anything they can catch and swallow.
- Bluefish have razor-sharp teeth and shearing jaws that allow them to ingest large parts, increasing the maximum size of the prey they can eat.
- They eat squid and fish, particularly menhaden and smaller fish such as silversides.
- Sharks, tunas, and billfishes are typically the only fish predators large and fast enough to prey on adult bluefish.
- Bluefish make up a major part of the diet of shortfin mako sharks and are also very important in the diets of swordfish.
- Oceanic birds prey on juvenile bluefish.
Where They Live
Range
- Along the East Coast from Maine to eastern Florida.
Habitat
- Bluefish live in temperate and tropical coastal oceans around the world, except in the eastern Pacific.
- They gather by size in schools that can cover tens of square miles of ocean, equivalent to 10,000 football fields.
- Bluefish migrate seasonally, moving north in spring and summer as water temperatures rise and then south in autumn and winter to waters in the South Atlantic Bight.
- Females release their eggs in the open ocean.
- Larvae develop into juveniles near the surface in continental shelf waters and eventually move to estuarine and nearshore shelf habitats.
- Juveniles prefer sandy ocean bottoms but will also inhabit mud, silt, or clay ocean bottoms or vegetated areas.
- Adults live in both inshore and offshore areas and favor warmer water.
Fishery Management
- NOAA Fisheries, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission manage the bluefish fishery.
- Managed under the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan:
- Commercial fishermen must have a permit to catch and sell bluefish.
- Managers set an annual catch limit.
- The majority of catch is allocated to the recreational fisheries.
- The commercial catch limit is divided into state-specific allocations. Unused recreational catch can be re-allocated to commercial fisheries.
- A rebuilding plan to rebuild the stock to the target population level is in place with a target date of 2029.
Harvest
- In 2022, commercial landings of bluefish totaled 2.3 million pounds and were valued at $2 million, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database.
- In 2022, recreational anglers landed 12 million pounds of bluefish, according to the NOAA Fisheries recreational fishing landings database.
- Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey account for the largest percentage of the recreational bluefish harvest.
- Peak recreational harvest occurs from May through October with over 70 percent of the catch in July and August.
- Gear types, habitat impacts, and bycatch:
- Recreational fishermen use hook-and-line gear that has minimal impacts on habitat.
- Commercial fishermen use a variety of gears including trawls, gillnets, haul seines, and pound nets, and the impacts vary by gear type.
- Gillnets can occasionally entangle marine mammals. However, the bluefish fishery uses nets with small mesh and sinking gillnets to reduce bycatch.
- A rebuilding plan to rebuild the stock to the target population level is in place with a target date of 2029.
Scientific Classification
- Along the East Coast from Maine to eastern Florida.
- Bluefish live in temperate and tropical coastal oceans around the world, except in the eastern Pacific.
- They gather by size in schools that can cover tens of square miles of ocean, equivalent to 10,000 football fields.
- Bluefish migrate seasonally, moving north in spring and summer as water temperatures rise and then south in autumn and winter to waters in the South Atlantic Bight.
- Females release their eggs in the open ocean.
- Larvae develop into juveniles near the surface in continental shelf waters and eventually move to estuarine and nearshore shelf habitats.
- Juveniles prefer sandy ocean bottoms but will also inhabit mud, silt, or clay ocean bottoms or vegetated areas.
- Adults live in both inshore and offshore areas and favor warmer water.
Fishery Management
- NOAA Fisheries, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission manage the bluefish fishery.
- Managed under the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan:
- Commercial fishermen must have a permit to catch and sell bluefish.
- Managers set an annual catch limit.
- The majority of catch is allocated to the recreational fisheries.
- The commercial catch limit is divided into state-specific allocations. Unused recreational catch can be re-allocated to commercial fisheries.
- A rebuilding plan to rebuild the stock to the target population level is in place with a target date of 2029.
Harvest
- In 2022, commercial landings of bluefish totaled 2.3 million pounds and were valued at $2 million, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database.
- In 2022, recreational anglers landed 12 million pounds of bluefish, according to the NOAA Fisheries recreational fishing landings database.
- Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey account for the largest percentage of the recreational bluefish harvest.
- Peak recreational harvest occurs from May through October with over 70 percent of the catch in July and August.
- Gear types, habitat impacts, and bycatch:
- Recreational fishermen use hook-and-line gear that has minimal impacts on habitat.
- Commercial fishermen use a variety of gears including trawls, gillnets, haul seines, and pound nets, and the impacts vary by gear type.
- Gillnets can occasionally entangle marine mammals. However, the bluefish fishery uses nets with small mesh and sinking gillnets to reduce bycatch.
- A rebuilding plan to rebuild the stock to the target population level is in place with a target date of 2029.
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom | Animalia | Phylum | Chordata | Class | Actinopterygii | Order | Perciformes | Family | Pomatomidae | Genus | Pomatomus | Species | saltatrix |
|---|
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Seafood Facts
Is Bluefish Sustainable?
U.S. wild-caught bluefish is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.
Availability
Fresh year-round, but varies by area. Not available frozen. Buy in season, and plan to cook within a day of purchase.
Source
U.S. wild-caught from Massachusetts to Florida.
Taste
Rich, full flavor. The larger the fish, the more pronounced the taste. A strong-flavored, dark strip of meat on the fillet may be removed before cooking.
Texture
Coarse, moist meat with edible skin.
Color
The meat of raw bluefish is light putty to blue-gray in color with a brownish tinge. It becomes lighter when cooked.
Health Benefits
Bluefish are a good source of selenium, niacin, vitamin B12, magnesium, and potassium. As apex predators, bluefish can accumulate comparatively high levels of mercury and PCB contaminants. Limited consumption has been recommended in some states.
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1; Serving Weight: 100 g; Calories: 124; Protein: 20.04 g; Total Fat: 4.24 g; Total Saturated Fatty Acids: 0.915 g; Carbohydrate: 0 g; Total Sugars: 0 g; Total Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Cholesterol: 59 mg; Selenium: 36.5 mcg; Sodium: 60 mcgSeafood News
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Tonya Wick aboard a fishing vessel at sea in 1998. Photo courtesy of Tonya Wick
Fish on display at the market. Credit: Shutterstock
Fishermen offloading. Credit: Shutterstock
Science Overview
NOAA Fisheries conducts various research activities on the biology, behavior, and population health of bluefish. The results of this research are used to inform management decisions for this species.
For detailed information about stock status, management, assessments, and resource trends, you can search for bluefish, and any other species of interest, using NOAA’s StockSMART web tool.
Addressing Bluefish Data and Research Needs
The bluefish management plan allows managers to set aside a small percentage of the annual catch limit for research. Proceeds from the sale of this set-aside catch are used to fund research on the fishery.
In 2012, managers established a coast-wide sampling program designed to improve the quantity and quality of information used in bluefish stock assessments. The program resulted in a significant increase in the amount of age-length keys and catch-at-age data that was used in future benchmark assessments.
Several key scientific gaps still need to be addressed to better inform bluefish management. For example, more research is needed on how much bluefish is caught and discarded in the commercial fisheries for bluefish and other species, the resulting impacts, and general population trends. There is also uncertainty in the methods used by scientists to monitor bluefish abundance and in estimating recreational catch along the Atlantic coast.
