COLLETTE and RUSSO: SPANISH MACKERELS 



inner continental shelf, over depths from 12 to 

 50 m, off Texas at surface water temperatures of 

 19.6°-29.8°C and salinities of 28.3-37.41. (McEach- 

 ran et al. 1980). Summaries of previous larval 

 work and illustrations of larvae 2.6-13.5 mm and 

 of juveniles 14-97 mm are contained in Fritzsche 

 (1978). As with other members of the genus, food 

 consists chiefly of small fishes with lesser quanti- 

 ties of penaeoid shrimps and cephalopods. Clupe- 

 oids such as menhaden (Brevoortia), alewives 

 (Alosa), thread herring (Opisthonema), Spanish 

 sardine (Sardinella ), and anchovies (Anchoa ) are 

 particularly important in North Carolina, Flor- 

 ida, Texas, and Veracruz (Earll 1883; Knapp 1950; 

 Miles and Simmons 1951; Klima 1959; Mendoza 

 1968; Naughton and Saloman 1981; Saloman and 

 Naughton 1983b). Juveniles (100-400 mm FL) ate 

 more anchovies (Naughton and Saloman 1981; 

 Saloman and Naughton 1983b) than adults did. 

 Other fishes commonly consumed include Caran- 

 gidae, Mugilidae, and Trichiuridae (Klima 1959; 

 Saloman and Naughton 1983b). 



Interest to fisheries. — The Spanish mackerel is a 

 valued fish to recreational or commercial fisheries 

 throughout its range. The fishery along the Atlan- 

 tic coast of the United States north of southern 

 Florida is seasonal (Klima 1959): late July to 

 September from Rhode Island to New Jersey 

 (Earll 1883), May or June to September in Chesa- 

 peake Bay ( Hildebrand and Schroeder 1928), April 

 to June on the way north, and September-October 

 on the way south through the Carolinas (Smith 

 1907: Taylor 1951). The fishery in southern Florida 

 is concentrated in the winter months, October- 

 February or March (Klima 1959; Beaumariage 

 1970). In northwest Florida, the fishery peaks 

 March- April (Beaumariage 1970); in Louisiana in 

 June and October (Adkins and Bourgeois 1982); 

 and in Texas March-April and July-September 

 (Springer and Pirson 1958). As in the Carolinas, 

 there are two major capture seasons in Veracruz: 

 459c of the annual production is taken March- 

 April during the northward migration and 30% 

 October-December in the southward migration 

 (Doi and Mendizabal 1979). The beginnings of the 

 Spanish mackerel fishery in the United States 

 were discussed by Earll (1883) and a historical 

 summary of the U.S. catch from 1887 to 1967 was 

 provided by Lyles (1969). The commercial fishery 

 began along the middle Atlantic and Chesapeake 

 Bay areas before 1850, and by 1880 about 86% of 

 the total U.S. catch of 1.9 million pounds was 

 landed in the Chesapeake Bay area (Trent and 



Anthony 1979). Since 1950, over 92% of the total 

 U.S. catch has been landed in Florida (Trent and 

 Anthony 1979). In 1976 about 18 million pounds 

 valued at about $3.2 million were landed by com- 

 mercial fishermen in the United States; in 1970 an 

 estimated 23 million pounds were landed by rec- 

 reational fishermen (Trent and Anthony 1979). 

 Spanish mackerel is second in volume among 

 Mexico's Gulf of Mexico fisheries with an average 

 annual production from 1968 to 1976 of 4,900 1 (Doi 

 and Mendizabal 1979). Most of this (80%) is 

 produced in the state of Veracruz with lesser 

 amounts from Campeche (15% ) and Yucatan (5%). 

 The early fishery in the United States utilized 

 trolling lines, gill nets, and pound nets (Earll 

 1883). The commercial fishery in Florida utilizes 

 stab or floating gill nets, which capture fish of age 

 II-III, 30-65 cm FL (52% 36-41 cm), and hook and 

 line, which captures smaller fish, age I-II, 21-69 

 cm FL (38% 33-35 cm) (Klima 1959). Larger 

 vessels now entering the fishery have power- 

 rollers to retrieve the nets which are mostly nylon; 

 airplane spotter pilots locate the fish (Trent and 

 Anthony 1979). Recreational anglers catch Span- 

 ish mackerel from boats while trolling or drifting 

 and from boats, piers, jetties, and beaches by 

 casting, livebait fishing, jigging, and drift fishing 

 (Trent and Anthony 1979). Fishermen in Veracruz 

 employ beach seines (chinchorros playeros), gill 

 nets (redes agalleras), trolling spoons (curricanes), 

 and trap nets (almadrabas) (Doi and Mendizabal 

 1979). Nearly all the catch is consumed fresh, 

 frozen, or smoked (Lyles 1969). A few attempts 

 have been made at canning Spanish mackerel but 

 the product has not been widely accepted (Earll 

 1883; Lyles 1969). Frozen fish begin to show signs 

 of rancidity after as little as 3 mo time in frozen 

 storage, a problem which has been treated with 

 antioxidants and EDTA (Farragut 1972; Hale 

 1979). 



Distribution. — Western Atlantic Ocean from 

 Massachusetts south along the Atlantic coast of 

 the United States and the coast of the Gulf of 

 Mexico from Florida to Yucatan, Mexico (Fig. 49). 

 There are several summer records from the south- 

 ern side of Cape Cod, Buzzards Bay, Woods Hole, 

 and Vineyard Sound (Sumner et al. 1913; Bigelow 

 and Schroeder 1953), but only strays are known 

 from further north. Storer (1855) recorded the 

 capture of an individual at Lynn in Massachusetts 

 Bay and stated that individuals had been obtained 

 at Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, and at 

 Monhegan Island in Maine. There do not appear to 



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