Life in the Chesapeake Bay by Alice Jane Lippson and Robert L. The Chesapeake Bay record bluefish was caught in 1986 at Bluefish Rock near Hampton, Virginia.They have been known to bite humans who wander too close to a school of fish being hunted. Bluefish can live for more than 12 years. Juveniles from this spawning period and a southern spring spawning period enter the Bay in late summer. Spawning occurs off the mid-Atlantic coast during summer. Humans catch bluefish for commercial and recreational purposes. Sharks, tuna and swordfish may prey upon bluefish. Possibly the most voracious predator in the Bay, a bluefish will kill another fish just for the sake of killing it. It uses its sharp teeth to attack and feed on prey. The bluefish eats squid and small, schooling fish such as menhaden and anchovies. Its tail fin is forked and light green, and it has a black blotch at the base of its pectoral fin. Its large mouth has strong jaws and sharp teeth. It is an elongated, greenish-blue body and a silvery belly. The adults can be found in estuaries and brackish water, but are most common in clean, high-energy waters, such as surf beaches and rock headlands (Agbayani 2001).The bluefish usually grows 40 to 45 inches in length and can weigh as much as 30 pounds. Rangeīluefish are found in all oceanic and coastal waters except the eastern and northwest Pacific. Sizeīluefish reach an average length of 30 cm but can grow as large as 120 cm. In the United States, bluefish account for about 1% of the commercial fishery landings, but over the past 20 years, the catch was tripled (Manooch 2001 Species bluefish).Ĭaught with trawls, nets, hooks and traps. Bluefish is a tender cut of fish that explodes with meaty flavors when cooked into a fish stock. Each year, about 55 million kilograms of bluefish are caught by anglers. The bluefish's aggressive feeding habits and the fight it puts up makes it a very popular sportfish. Fisheryīluefish are economically important as both a sportfish and as a food. Bluefish will often first bite the tail off their prey, will then consume the food, will regurgitate, and will again eat (Bachand 1994 Meyer). They are visual feeders that hunt in schools and will attack anything that moves or slightly resembles food. Dietīluefish are strictly carnivorous, eating squid, shrimp, crabs, and fish, such as herring, atlantic mackeral, menhaden, spot, butterfish, and mullet. These coastal fish will sometimes enter brackish water, where they can tolerate a salinity concentration as low as 7 parts per thousand (Meyer Bachand 1994). They can tolerate water temperatures as low as 14☌, and can maintain a body temperature up to 40☌ above the temperature of the surroundings. As the size of the bluefish increases, the distance they migrate also increases. As they mature, they begin annual migrations. Smaller bluefish live nearly year-round in estuaries and bays along the coasts. Bluefish have an extended, down-turned lower jaw, with both jaws being lined with extremely sharp, conical teeth. They are covered in relatively small scales, have a straight lateral line, a forked tail, and dorsal and anal fins. Bluefish are voracious eaters with sharp teeth, so mastering how to fish for bluefish depends on having plenty of bait While theyre not very discriminating. Coloration is greenish-blue to dark blue above giving way to a silvery white on the sides and below.
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