Mackerel

They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.

Mackerel

Some species of mackerel migrate in schools for long distances along the coast and other species cross oceans

Global commercial capture of mackerel in millions of tonnes
reported by the FAO 1950–2009

Mackerel species typically have deeply forked tails and vertical "tiger-like" stripes on their backs with an iridescent green-blue quality. 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. 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.

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.

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.

Scombrini, the true mackerels

The true mackerels belong to the tribe Scombrini. The tribe consists of seven species, each belonging to one of two genera: Scomber or Rastrelliger.

True Mackerels (tribe Scombrini)
Common name	Scientific name	Maximum length	Common length	Maximum weight	Maximum age	Trophic level	FishBase	FAO	IUCN status
Short mackerel	Rastrelliger brachysoma (Bleeker, 1851)	34.5 cm (13.6 in)	20 cm (7.9 in)			2.72			Data deficient
Island mackerel	R. faughni (Matsui, 1967)	20 cm (7.9 in)		0.75 kg (1.7 lb)		3.4			Data deficient
Indian mackerel	R. kanagurta (Cuvier, 1816)	35 cm (14 in)	25 cm (9.8 in)		4 years	3.19			Data deficient
Blue mackerel	Scomber australasicus (Cuvier, 1832)	44 cm (17 in)	30 cm (12 in)	1.36 kg (3.0 lb)		4.2			Least concern
Atlantic chub mackerel	S. colias (Gmelin, 1789)					3.91			Least concern
Chub mackerel	S. japonicus (Houttuyn, 1782)	64 cm (25 in)	30 cm (12 in)	2.9 kg (6.4 lb)	18 years	3.09			Least concern
Atlantic mackerel	S. scombrus (Linnaeus, 1758)	66 cm (26 in)	30 cm (12 in)	3.4 kg (7.5 lb)	12 years west 18 years east	3.65			Least concern

Scomberomorini, the Spanish mackerels

The Spanish mackerels belong to the tribe Scomberomorini, which is the "cousin tribe" of the true mackerels. This tribe consists of 21 species in all—18 of those are classified into the genus Scomberomorus, two into Grammatorcynus, and a single species into the monotypic genus Acanthocybium.

Spanish Mackerels (tribe Scomberomorini)
Common name	Scientific name	Maximum length	Common length	Maximum weight	Maximum age	Trophic level	FishBase	FAO	IUCN status
Wahoo	Acanthocybium solandri (Cuvier in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1832)	250 cm	170 cm	83 kg	years	4.4			Least concern
Shark mackerel	Grammatorcynus bicarinatus (Quoy & Gaimard, 1825)	112 cm	cm	13.5 kg	years	4.5			Least concern
Double-lined mackerel	G. bilineatus (Rüppell, 1836)	100 cm	50 cm	3.5 kg	years	4.18			Least concern
Serra Spanish mackerel	Scomberomorus brasiliensis (Collette, Russo & Zavala-Camin, 1978)	cm	cm	kg	years	3.31			Least concern
King mackerel	S. cavalla (Cuvier, 1829)	184 cm	70 cm	45 kg	14 years	4.5			Least concern
Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel	S. commerson (Lacepède, 1800)	240 cm	120 cm	70 kg	years	4.5			Near threatened
Monterey Spanish mackerel	S. concolor (Lockington, 1879)	cm	cm	kg	years	4.24			Vulnerable
Indo-Pacific king mackerel	S. guttatus (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)	76 cm	55 cm	kg	years	4.28			Data deficient
Korean mackerel	S. koreanus (Kishinouye, 1915)	150 cm	60 cm	15 kg	years	4.2			Least concern
Streaked Spanish mackerel	S. lineolatus (Cuvier, 1829)	80 cm	70 cm	kg	years	4.5			Least concern
Atlantic Spanish mackerel	S. maculatus (Mitchill, 1815)	91 cm	cm	5.89 kg	5 years	4.5			Least concern
Papuan Spanish mackerel	S. multiradiatus Munro, 1964	35 cm	cm	0.5 kg	years	4.0			Least concern
Australian spotted mackerel	S. munroi (Collette & Russo, 1980)	104 cm	cm	10.2 kg	years	4.3			Near threatened
Japanese Spanish mackerel	S. niphonius (Cuvier, 1832)	100 cm	cm	7.1 kg	years	4.5			Data deficient
Queen mackerel	S. plurilineatus Fourmanoir, 1966	120 cm	cm	12.5 kg	years	4.2			Data deficient
Queensland school mackerel	S. queenslandicus (Munro, 1943)	100 cm	80 cm	12.2 kg	years	4.5			Least concern
Cero mackerel	S. regalis (Bloch, 1793)	183 cm	cm	7.8 kg	years	4.5			Least concern
Broadbarred king mackerel	S. semifasciatus (Macleay, 1883)	120 cm	cm	kg	10 years	4.5			Least concern
Pacific sierra	S. sierra (Cuvier, 1832)	99 cm	60 cm	8.2 kg	years	4.5			Least concern
Chinese mackerel	S. sinensis (Cuvier, 1832)	247 cm	100 cm	kg	years	4.5			Data deficient
West African Spanish mackerel	S. tritor (Cuvier, 1832)	cm	cm	kg	years	4.26			Least concern

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 recognised as separate species.

Other mackerel species
Family	Common name	Scientific name	Maximum length	Common length	Maximum weight	Maximum age	Trophic level	FishBase	FAO	IUCN status
Scombridae Gasterochisma	Butterfly mackerel	Gasterochisma melampus Richardson, 1845	175 cm	153 cm	kg	years	4.4			Least concern
Carangidae Jack mackerel	Atlantic horse mackerel	Trachurus trachurus (Linnaeus, 1758)	70 cm	22 cm	2.0 kg	years	3.64			Not assessed
	Blue jack mackerel	T. picturatus (Bowdich, 1825)	60 cm	25 cm	kg	years	3.32			Data deficient
	Cape horse mackerel	T. capensis (Castelnau, 1861)	60 cm	30 cm	kg	years	3.47			Not assessed
	Chilean jack mackerel	T. murphyi (Nichols, 1920)	70 cm	45 cm	kg	16 years	3.49			Data deficient
	Cunene horse mackerel	T. trecae (Cadenat, 1950)	35 cm	cm	2.0 kg	years	3.49			Not assessed
	Greenback horse mackerel	T. declivis (Jenyns, 1841)	64 cm	42 cm	kg	25 years	3.93			Not assessed
	Japanese horse mackerel	T. japonicus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844)	50 cm	35 cm	0.66 kg	12 years	3.4			Not assessed
	Mediterranean horse mackerel	T. mediterraneus (Steindachner, 1868)	60 cm	30 cm	kg	years	3.59			Not assessed
	Pacific jack mackerel	T. symmetricus (Ayres, 1855)	81 cm	55 cm	kg	30 years	3.56			Least concern
	Yellowtail horse mackerel	T. novaezelandiae (Richardson, 1843)	50 cm	35 cm	kg	25 years	4.5			Not assessed
Gempylidae Snake mackerel	Black snake mackerel	Nealotus tripes (Johnson, 1865)	25 cm	15 cm	kg	years	4.2			Not assessed
	Blacksail snake mackerel	Thyrsitoides marleyi (Fowler, 1929)	200 cm	100 cm	kg	years	4.19			Not assessed
	Snake mackerel	Gempylus serpens (Cuvier, 1829)	100 cm	60 cm	kg	years	4.35			Not assessed
	Violet snake mackerel	Nesiarchus nasutus (Johnson, 1862)	130 cm	80 cm	kg	years	4.33			Not assessed
	* White snake mackerel	Thyrsitops lepidopoides (Cuvier, 1832)	40 cm	25 cm	kg	years	3.86			Not assessed
Hexagrammidae	Okhotsk atka mackerel	Pleurogrammus azonus (Jordan & Metz, 1913)	62 cm	cm	1.6 kg	12 years	3.58			Not assessed
	Atka mackerel	P. monopterygius (Pallas, 1810)	56.5 cm	cm	2.0 kg	14 years	3.33			Not assessed

 

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 scad—Decapterus macarellus
• 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, and to inanimate objects such as the altocumulus mackerel sky cloud formation.

 

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, 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.^{[failed verification]}

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. However, fish have an optokinetic reflex in their visual systems that can be sensitive to moving stripes. 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.

 

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."

Mackerel range in size from small forage fish to larger game fish. Coastal mackerel tend to be small. 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.

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, while chub mackerel can swim at a sustained speed of 0.92 m/sec with a burst speed of 2.25 m/sec.

 

King mackerels cruise on long migrations at 10 kilometres per hour.

Most mackerel species have restricted distribution ranges.

Some mackerel species migrate vertically. 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.

 

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.

Off Madagascar, spinner sharks follow migrating schools of mackerel. Bryde's whales feed on mackerel when they can find them. They use several feeding methods, including skimming the surface, lunging, and bubble nets.

Global capture of mackerel in tonnes reported by the FAO 1950–2009

 

↑  Scombroid mackerels

 

↑  Non-scombroid mackerels

Main commercial species

 

The chub mackerel is the most intensively fished mackerel in the scombroid family.

 

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.

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.

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 nonscombroid mackerel, fished as heavily as chub mackerel. The species has been overfished, and its fishery may now be in danger of collapsing.

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.

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. Fish aggregating devices are also used to target mackerel.

Images and videos
Longlining for mackerel   Narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, largest of the scombroid mackerels and a fine game fish for sport fishermen	External videos   Bluefin Baitball YouTube   Atlantic Mackerel Purse Seining 2007 YouTube

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.

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.

 

Mackerel is an important food fish that is consumed worldwide. As an oily fish, it is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.