Bluefish Bonanza

by L.A. DiNardi

In the 1970’s, commercial fisheries traded in the big fins in pursuit of the bluefish, a highly sought after sports fish to comply with the high demand from developing markets in South America and Africa. The fishermen were a bit off put to turn their favorite sport fish into a commercial fish, however the demand and profit was too good to pass up.

Unfortunately, this led to a massive decline in population that last through the mid-1990’s. Fishermen approached Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to create a management plan for the population of the blues. Though it took a while to take effect, the lowest point happening in 1996, the population has built back up with a sustainable reproduction rate among the bluefish.

There are many factors that impact the population size of bluefish, such as commercial fishing and the effects other species have on the quantity of blue available. Size can also challenge anglers, since there are minimum requirements for keeping the catch, and even more significant, a desire to land that big 20lb blue versus the baby blue which runs between 8-10lbs. If bluefish are caught and thrown back, what condition are they being thrown back in? How does this impact the bluefish population? NOAA has bee studying the bluefish density for years and extrapolating data to better understand all the factors that affect these popular fish.

Good new, 2015 is turning out to be quite a banner year for the bluefish. Beginning back in early spring, large schools were spotted with not only a significant increase in school size, but big blues cracking the water’s surface. Now, at the end of July, the population has grown so large it is even impeding mackerel anglers from catching their quotas. The bluefish are definitely in abundance so go out and catch yours today!