Mackerel

Lore & Background

Mackerel species typically have deeply forked tails and vertical 'tiger-like' stripes on their backs with an iridescent green-blue quality. Many are restricted in their distribution ranges and live in separate populations or fish stocks based on geography. Some stocks migrate in large schools along the coast to suitable spawning grounds, where they spawn in fairly shallow waters. After spawning they return the way they came in smaller schools to suitable feeding grounds, often near an area of upwelling. From there they may move offshore into deeper waters and spend the winter in relative inactivity. Other stocks migrate across oceans.

Smaller mackerel are forage fish for larger predators, including larger mackerel and Atlantic cod. Flocks of seabirds, whales, dolphins, sharks, and schools of larger fish such as tuna and marlin follow mackerel schools and attack them in sophisticated and cooperative ways. Mackerel are prolific broadcast spawners, and must breed near the surface because the eggs float. Individual females lay between 300,000 and 1,500,000 eggs.

The term 'mackerel' is derived from Old French and may have originally meant either 'marked, spotted' or 'pimp, procurer'. The latter connection is not altogether clear, but mackerel spawn enthusiastically in shoals near the coast, and medieval ideas on animal procreation were creative.

Reader's Guide

Mackerel hold significance as a major global fishery, with chub mackerel being the most intensively fished scombroid mackerel, accounting for about half the total capture production of scombroid mackerels. Their flesh is high in omega-3 oils, driving intensive harvest by humans. The fish are also ecologically important as forage for larger predators including tuna, marlin, sharks, whales, dolphins, and seabirds. The stripes on mackerel are believed to serve as 'schooling marks' that help fish align themselves with neighbors and match speed, with reflecting platelets possibly transmitting additional information about movement. Over 30 different species are commonly referred to as mackerel, principally from the family Scombridae, which also includes tuna and bonito. Mackerel are generally smaller and slimmer than tuna, lack a swim bladder, and have cylindrical bodies with numerous finlets. Some species, like the butterfly mackerel, are endothermic. The wahoo has been known to reach speeds of up to 78 km/h. The term 'mackerel' is also used as a modifier for other fish with vertical stripes, such as mackerel icefish, mackerel shark, and mackerel tuna, and even for inanimate objects like the altocumulus mackerel sky cloud formation.

Did You Know?

• The term 'mackerel' may derive from Old French meaning either 'marked, spotted' or 'pimp, procurer'.
• Mackerel stripes are thought to serve as 'schooling marks' that help fish align and match speed with neighbors.
• Individual female mackerel lay between 300,000 and 1,500,000 eggs.
• The wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri) has been known to reach speeds of up to 78 km/h.