While bluefish will devour almost anything that swims, they themselves are constantly preyed upon for their entire life cycle by striped bass, tuna, sharks, seals, rays, dolphins, porpoises, sea lions and many other species. And they can grow to a length of 39 inches. The record catch for a blue, off the North Carolina coast, is 31 lbs., 12 oz. Amazingly, more than 70 species of fish have been found in the stomach contents of a single bluefish. Being voracious eaters, their incredibly sharp teeth and shearing jaws enable them to take prey in large pieces. Are these blitzes and super large schools sadly no more?īluefish have enormous energy, making them a favorite sport fish for their remarkable fight on the line. And farther out, they were known to swim in schools covering an astonishing tens of square miles.Ī “bluefish blitz,” a sight once as common as it was exciting to see, was where blues would chase along the shoreline after such prey as shrimp and bait-sized weakfish, anchovies, jacks, almost anything, in a frenzied chase through the surf zone with bewildering speed. Not long ago, when we took so much for granted, “blues” could be seen in their huge, loose schools, covering literally acres of local marine waters that they would churn like washing machines. The 1,000-pound commercial daily limit in effect from April to October might be cut to 750 pounds. Hello? For its part, the commercial limit is a mind-boggling 10,000 pounds per day from January to April, which the DEC might now cut to “only” 5,000 pounds. Who would need that many all these years? The DEC is suggesting three might be enough. Fifteen bluefish are the maximum allowed per person aboard. Yet all the regulators, as well as recreational and commercial anglers, concur on this: bluefish are diminishing in size and now vanishing as never before. From a broader perspective, raising and dropping catch limits has failed miserably. While historically, however, they all don’t agree on almost anything, they agreed at the DEC meeting that there has never been a “cyclical variation” of this magnitude for bluefish.Īll these definitely factor into the problem, of course, but whatever the cause, the response from regulators never changes: simply cut the allowable catch limits, to be raised later. They announced findings that oxygen levels in the world’s oceans have been dropping since 1960, owing to climate change as well as nutrient runoff from farm and lawn fertilizers.īack at Setauket, fishermen at the DEC gathering raised the standard explanation, though with less confidence, that bluefish populations will vary in 10-year cycles. More concerning is the report circulated at the current, annual global climate talks in Madrid. Some believe that increasing ocean temperatures are to blame, causing bluefish to migrate to waters farther north. Last year also marked the lowest commercial harvest for bluefish. Moreover, AFSMFC reported that bluefish harvested in 2018 were “considerably smaller” in body weight than those harvested in 2017. But by 2018, it was dramatically lower recreational fishing harvested 13.5 million pounds of bluefish. Back in 1986, an astonishing record of 151.5 million pounds of bluefish were taken by recreational anglers on the East Coast. Indeed, the eastern Pacific Ocean is one of the very few areas of the world that bluefish don’t inhabit. Recreational fishing accounts for 87% of the bluefish taken from marine waters.īluefish are not found off the West Coast of the United States. Reading between the lines, the unintended story is this: bluefish are another natural resource that we have over-harvested, in this case mainly by recreational fishing. It can be said that the recent DEC gathering in Setauket took a similar, hapless direction - likely too little, too late. Checking their website at tells quite a story, but maybe not the story they intend. And when you see the numbers the DEC throws around, maybe it’s another case where “we have seen the enemy, and they are us.”Īre the regulators of our bluefish missing the boat? It’s not only the State DEC, but regulators and policy makers for the multi-state fisheries, such as the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). Some strict limits are in store for how many can be fished. But at a recent meeting in Setauket, hosted by the State DEC, there was confirmed what many have regrettably noticed of late: that bluefish have come close to disappearing altogether. Where have all the bluefish gone? And through generations, how much a part of our very culture have they become?įishing for bluefish, or just watching their frenzy in the water, has been as much a part of life on Long Island as our farms, beaches, pine barrens and vineyards.
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