Status Review 

 of King Mackerel 

 in the Gulf of Mexico 



INTRODUCTION 



This feature reviews the biology ot king maciv- 

 erel, the history and management of the fisheries 

 for it in the Gulf- of Mexico, and the issues of con- 

 cern as the resource is recovered from being over- 

 fished. This review is based on the most recent 

 stock assessment which was carried out in the 

 spring of 1998. The status of king mackerel and 

 other coastal migratory pelagics is described in 

 Unit 7. 



The king mackerel is a migratory coastal pe- 

 lagic species found in the western Atlantic Ocean 

 from New England to Brazil and in the Gulf of 

 Mexico. Two groups are currently recognized in 

 U.S. waters for management purposes: the Atlan- 

 tic group and the Gulf of Mexico group. Both 

 groups undergo long-distance migrations each year 

 from the northern part of their range in the sum- 

 mer, where thev spawn, to the southern part of 

 their range in the winter, where they feed on large 

 schools of baitflsh. The Gulf of Mexico group splits 

 durmg the winter migration with some fish going 

 to Mexican waters and others going to southern 

 Florida waters where they intermingle with the 

 .Atlantic group. Genetic studies have found some 

 differences between the Atlantic and Ciulf groups, 

 but they have concluded that there is some gene 

 flow between the two groups. Similar genetic stud- 

 ies within the Gulf of Mexico have found much 

 smaller differences between king mackerel in the 

 eastern and western Gulf 



Based on mark-recapture studies conducted 



during 1975-79, the boundary between the At- 

 lantic and Gulf of Mexico groups was set at 

 Florida's Volusia-Flagler County border in winter 

 (1 November-31 March) and the Monroe-Collier 

 County border in summer (1 April-31 October). 

 The area between these two boundaries, the south- 

 east coast of Florida, is known as the mixing zone 

 with fish from both groups present in the winter, 

 although for management purposes all the fish 

 caught in this area in the winter are assigned to 

 the Gulf of Mexico group. 



King mackerel are relatively fast growing f]sh 

 that form large schools and eat voraciously. They 

 reach maturity quickly, as early as 2 years, and can 

 live up to 20 years, although the majority of catches 

 are younger than 6 years old. Their large size (up 

 to 40+ kg for females), appealing taste, and strong 

 fighting ability when hooked make them a target 

 for both commercial and recreational fishermen. 

 Landings from the commercial sector alone have 

 been valued at approximately $6,000,000 on av- 

 erage over the past few years. 



HISTORY 



Large-scale exploitation of king mackerel be- 

 gan in Florida in the early 1900's. Sailing skiff 

 operators, using hook-and-line, processed the fish 

 for both local consumption and for sale as a dried 

 and salted product. I he introduction of ice houses 

 in the area led to an increase in fishing pressure 

 because the fish could now be shipped frozen, com- 

 manding a higher price. Total commercial catches 



Feature 

 Article 



3 



CHRISTOPHER M LEGAULT 



NMFS Southeast Fisheries 

 Science Center 



IVIiami 

 Florida 



