Bluefish
About the Species
The Atlantic bluefish fishery in the U.S. operates from Maine to Florida. Bluefish are highly migratory along the U.S. Atlantic coast and seasonally move. The bluefish fishery predominantly uses gillnets, but other gear includes hook and line, pound nets, seines, and trawls. The recreational fishery accounts for the majority of the bluefish total catch each year. The market for bluefish is for human consumption and is primarily sold fresh or smoked. U.S. wild-caught bluefish is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations. Implementing regulations are found at 50 CFR part 648 subpart J.
Population
The stock is overfished.
Fishing Rate
Not subject to overfishing.
Habitat Impact
Recreational fishermen use hook-and-line gear that has minimal impacts on habitat. Commercial fishermen use a variety of gears including trawls, gillnets, haul seines, and pound nets, and the impacts vary by gear type.
Bycatch
Regulations are in place to minimize bycatch.
Population Status
- According to the 2023 stock assessment, bluefish is not overfished - rebuilding and not subject to overfishing. Summary stock assessment information can be found on Stock SMART.
Appearance
- Bluefish are blue-green on the back and silvery on the sides and belly.
- They have a prominent jaw, with sharp, compressed teeth.
Biology
- Bluefish live up to 12 years.
- They grow fast, up to 31 pounds and 39 inches.
- They are able to reproduce at age 2, when they’re 15 to 20 inches in length.
- Depending on their size, females can have between 400,000 and 2 million eggs.
- Bluefish spawn multiple times in spring and summer.
- They exhibit feeding behavior called the “bluefish blitz,” where large schools of big fish attack bait fish near the surface, churning the water like a washing machine. They feed voraciously on their prey, eating almost anything they can catch and swallow.
- Bluefish have razor-sharp teeth and shearing jaws that allow them to ingest large parts, increasing the maximum size of the prey they can eat.
- They eat squid and fish, particularly menhaden and smaller fish such as silversides.
- Sharks, tunas, and billfishes are typically the only fish predators large and fast enough to prey on adult bluefish.
- Bluefish make up a major part of the diet of shortfin mako sharks and are also very important in the diets of swordfish.
- Oceanic birds prey on juvenile bluefish.
Where They Live
Range
- Along the East Coast from Maine to eastern Florida.
Habitat
- Bluefish live in temperate and tropical coastal oceans around the world, except in the eastern Pacific.
- They gather by size in schools that can cover tens of square miles of ocean, equivalent to 10,000 football fields.
- Bluefish migrate seasonally, moving north in spring and summer as water temperatures rise and then south in autumn and winter to waters in the South Atlantic Bight.
- Females release their eggs in the open ocean.
- Larvae develop into juveniles near the surface in continental shelf waters and eventually move to estuarine and nearshore shelf habitats.
- Juveniles prefer sandy ocean bottoms but will also inhabit mud, silt, or clay ocean bottoms or vegetated areas.
- Adults live in both inshore and offshore areas and favor warmer water.
Fishery Management
- NOAA Fisheries, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission manage the bluefish fishery.
- Managed under the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan:
- Commercial fishermen must have a permit to catch and sell bluefish.
- Managers set an annual catch limit.
- The majority of catch is allocated to the recreational fisheries.
- The commercial catch limit is divided into state-specific allocations. Unused recreational catch can be re-allocated to commercial fisheries.
- A rebuilding plan to rebuild the stock to the target population level is in place with a target date of 2029.
Harvest
- In 2022, commercial landings of bluefish totaled 2.3 million pounds and were valued at $2 million, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database.
- In 2022, recreational anglers landed 12 million pounds of bluefish, according to the NOAA Fisheries recreational fishing landings database.
- Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey account for the largest percentage of the recreational bluefish harvest.
- Peak recreational harvest occurs from May through October with over 70 percent of the catch in July and August.
- Gear types, habitat impacts, and bycatch:
- Recreational fishermen use hook-and-line gear that has minimal impacts on habitat.
- Commercial fishermen use a variety of gears including trawls, gillnets, haul seines, and pound nets, and the impacts vary by gear type.
- Gillnets can occasionally entangle marine mammals. However, the bluefish fishery uses nets with small mesh and sinking gillnets to reduce bycatch.
Scientific Classification
- Along the East Coast from Maine to eastern Florida.
- Bluefish live in temperate and tropical coastal oceans around the world, except in the eastern Pacific.
- They gather by size in schools that can cover tens of square miles of ocean, equivalent to 10,000 football fields.
- Bluefish migrate seasonally, moving north in spring and summer as water temperatures rise and then south in autumn and winter to waters in the South Atlantic Bight.
- Females release their eggs in the open ocean.
- Larvae develop into juveniles near the surface in continental shelf waters and eventually move to estuarine and nearshore shelf habitats.
- Juveniles prefer sandy ocean bottoms but will also inhabit mud, silt, or clay ocean bottoms or vegetated areas.
- Adults live in both inshore and offshore areas and favor warmer water.
Fishery Management
- NOAA Fisheries, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission manage the bluefish fishery.
- Managed under the Bluefish Fishery Management Plan:
- Commercial fishermen must have a permit to catch and sell bluefish.
- Managers set an annual catch limit.
- The majority of catch is allocated to the recreational fisheries.
- The commercial catch limit is divided into state-specific allocations. Unused recreational catch can be re-allocated to commercial fisheries.
- A rebuilding plan to rebuild the stock to the target population level is in place with a target date of 2029.
Harvest
- In 2022, commercial landings of bluefish totaled 2.3 million pounds and were valued at $2 million, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database.
- In 2022, recreational anglers landed 12 million pounds of bluefish, according to the NOAA Fisheries recreational fishing landings database.
- Florida, North Carolina, and New Jersey account for the largest percentage of the recreational bluefish harvest.
- Peak recreational harvest occurs from May through October with over 70 percent of the catch in July and August.
- Gear types, habitat impacts, and bycatch:
- Recreational fishermen use hook-and-line gear that has minimal impacts on habitat.
- Commercial fishermen use a variety of gears including trawls, gillnets, haul seines, and pound nets, and the impacts vary by gear type.
- Gillnets can occasionally entangle marine mammals. However, the bluefish fishery uses nets with small mesh and sinking gillnets to reduce bycatch.
Scientific Classification
Kingdom | Animalia | Phylum | Chordata | Class | Actinopterygii | Order | Perciformes | Family | Pomatomidae | Genus | Pomatomus | Species | saltatrix |
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Featured News
Recreational Fishing Regulations
Possession and Size Requirements
The federal possession limit (bag limit) in the recreational bluefish fishery is dependent on the type of trip/vessel:
Private recreational vessels - 3 fish per person, per day
For-Hire Vessels (Party/Charter-Permitted Vessels) - 5 fish per person, per day
There is no federal size limit requirement. Please also check with your local state agency for any state or regional measures and requirements that may also apply.
2024 Atlantic Bluefish Recreational Specifications (January 1-December 31, 2024)
Overfishing Limit (OFL) | 25.87 million lb |
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Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) | 17.48 million lb |
Annual Catch Limit (ACL) | 17.48 million lb |
Recreational ACL | 15.03 million lb |
Recreational Accountability Measures | 0 |
Recreational Discards | 3.08 million lb |
Recreational Total Allowable Landings (TAL) (pre-transfer) | 11.96 million lb |
Sector Quota Transfer | N/A |
Recreational Harvest Limit (RHL) | 11.96 million lb |
Reporting A Recreational Catch
Catch Reporting and Vessel Trip Reports (VTR)
For all charter/party permit holders, VTRs must be maintained on board the vessel and submitted to NOAA Fisheries for all fishing trips, regardless of species retained. Instructions for completing the VTR can be found online on our reporting page.
eVTRs
Charter/Party vessel permit owners and operators with a federal charter/party (for-hire) permit to fish for bluefish (and other Mid-Atlantic species) must submit the required VTR by electronic means through a software application approved by NOAA Fisheries. These electronic log VTRs must be submitted within 48 hours after entering port at the conclusion of a trip. More information of the eVTR requirements and help with electronic reporting can be found online on our reporting page.
Other Reporting Information
The recreational (charter/party) bluefish fishery does not have any Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), or specific observer requirements. However, all federally permitted vessels are obligated to carry an observer if randomly selected by the National Observer Program.
Reporting is not required for the private recreational fishery, but the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) is a system of voluntary coordinated data collection programs designed to estimate recreational catch and effort.
Commercial Fishing Regulations
Possession and Size Requirements
There are no federal possession or fish size limit requirements in the commercial bluefish fishery. Please check with your state agency for any state or regional measures and requirements that may apply.
2024 Atlantic Bluefish Commercial Specifications (January 1–December 31, 2024)
Overfishing Limit (OFL) | 25.87 million lb |
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Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) | 17.48 million lb |
Annual Catch Limit (ACL) | 17.48 million lb |
Commercial ACL | 2.45 million lb |
Commercial Total Allowable Landings (TAL) (pre-transfer) | 2.42 million lb |
Sector Quota Transfer | N/A |
Commercial Quota | 2.42 million lb |
2024 Bluefish State-by-State Commercial Quota Allocations
State | Percent Share | Quota (pounds) |
Maine | 0.43 | 10,388 |
New Hampshire | 0.33 | 7,975 |
Massachusetts | 8.17 | 198,025 |
Rhode Island | 8.01 | 194,025 |
Connecticut | 1.19 | 28,821 |
New York | 14.40 | 348,947 |
New Jersey | 14.40 | 348,898 |
Delaware | 1.29 | 31,139 |
Maryland | 2.54 | 61,471 |
Virginia | 9.30 | 225,380 |
North Carolina | 32.05 | 776,452 |
South Carolina | 0.06 | 1,561 |
Georgia | 0.05 | 1,194 |
Florida | 7.80 | 188,899 |
Total | 100 | 2,422,880 |
*Quota may be transferred between states through in-season actions. These are the initial allocations and any changes may not be reflected in this table. Please check the quota monitoring page for updates.
Reporting A Commercial Catch
Catch Reporting and Vessel Trip Reports (VTR)
Owners/operators of vessels holding a federal bluefish permit must submit VTRs electronically. For more information about trip reporting, and to see a list of approved eVTR software applications, please visit the Greater Atlantic Region vessel trip reporting page.
Other Reporting Information
The commercial bluefish fishery does not have any Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), or specific observer requirements. However, all federally permitted vessels are obligated to carry an observer if randomly selected by the National Observer Program.
Commercial Gear Information
There are no federal gear requirements in the commercial bluefish fishery. Please check with your state agency for any state or regional measures and requirements that may apply.
More Information
Seafood Facts
Is Bluefish Sustainable?
U.S. wild-caught bluefish is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.
Availability
Fresh year-round, but varies by area. Not available frozen. Buy in season, and plan to cook within a day of purchase.
Source
U.S. wild-caught from Massachusetts to Florida.
Taste
Rich, full flavor. The larger the fish, the more pronounced the taste. A strong-flavored, dark strip of meat on the fillet may be removed before cooking.
Texture
Coarse, moist meat with edible skin.
Color
The meat of raw bluefish is light putty to blue-gray in color with a brownish tinge. It becomes lighter when cooked.
Health Benefits
Bluefish are a good source of selenium, niacin, vitamin B12, magnesium, and potassium. As apex predators, bluefish can accumulate comparatively high levels of mercury and PCB contaminants. Limited consumption has been recommended in some states.
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1; Serving Weight: 100 g; Calories: 124; Protein: 20.04 g; Total Fat: 4.24 g; Total Saturated Fatty Acids: 0.915 g; Carbohydrate: 0 g; Total Sugars: 0 g; Total Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Cholesterol: 59 mg; Selenium: 36.5 mcg; Sodium: 60 mcgMore Information
Seafood News
Management Overview
Atlantic Bluefish is managed in state and federal waters by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, in conjunction with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. NOAA Fisheries serves as the implementing body for rules and regulations within the fishery.
The bluefish fishery is managed using a bag limit for the recreational fishery and an annual quota allocated to the states for the commercial fishery.
The fishing year runs from January 1 through December 31, and there are no specified management areas for the fishery; with NOAA Fisheries jurisdiction covering bluefish from Maine to Florida.
Control Date for the Bluefish Fishery: May 29, 1997
Management Plans
Specifications/Quotas
The Atlantic Bluefish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) requires the specification of catch and harvest limits for up to three years at a time. If specifications are not in place at the start of the fishing year, the fishery functions without a quota until the final specifications of the current year are finalized.
Sector Quota Transfer
The Bluefish FMP specifies that a transfer of quota is permitted between the commercial and recreational fisheries in either direction; based on a review and comparison of expected landings for each sector and the recreational harvest limit and commercial quota. The amount of quota transferred between fishery sectors may not exceed 10-percent of the Acceptable Biological Catch for that fishing year. No transfer may occur when the bluefish stock is overfished or subject to overfishing.
Inseason Actions
If a state's commercial bluefish quota is fully harvested, then that state’s bluefish fishery will be closed. Additionally, states can transfer commercial quota between other states to avoid exceeding state quotas or to address other contingencies in the fishery.
Accountability Measures (AM)
Commercial AMs
Any overages of the commercial quota in any state will be deducted from that state’s annual quota for the following year, irrespective of whether the fishery-level ACL is exceeded. If a state has increased or reduced quota through the transfer process, then any overage will be measured against that state’s final adjusted quota.
Recreational AMs
If the fishery-level ACL is exceeded, the total catch exceeds the ABC, or the total catch exceeds the OFL, and landings from the recreational fishery are determined to be the sole cause of the overage (and no sector transfer of allowable landings has occurred; see below), then a system of accountability measures will be used that are based on a combination of the amount of overage and the condition of the stock. In other words, the status of the stock determines what type of management response would be implemented, including adjustment of management measures, scaled payback of overage, or pound-for-pound overage payback. These adjustments will be made in the following fishing year, or as soon as possible, as a single year adjustment.
In the case of an overage in a year with a sector transfer...
If the fishery-level ACL is exceeded and landings from the recreational fishery and/or the commercial fishery are determined to have caused the overage, and a transfer between the commercial and recreational sector has occurred for the fishing year, then the amount transferred between the recreational and commercial sectors may be reduced by the ACL overage amount (pound-for-pound repayment) in a subsequent, single fishing year if the Bluefish Monitoring Committee determines that the ACL overage was the result of too liberal a landings transfer between the two sectors. If the Bluefish Monitoring Committee determines that the ACL overage was not the result of the landings transfer, the recreational system of accountability measures, described above, will be implemented.
Regulatory History
- Late 1970s – Potential markets for bluefish in Africa and South America stimulate tuna purse seiners to consider harvesting bluefish; this interest prompts concerned recreational anglers to petition Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council to develop a management plan for bluefish.
- 1980s – Bluefish is one of top three recreational species along the Atlantic coast; from 1979 to 1987, more bluefish (by weight) were landed by anglers coastwide than any other fish.
- 1984 – Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council completes Bluefish Fishery Management Plan, in cooperation with NOAA Fisheries, the New England and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission; Secretary of Commerce rejects plan but concern for the resource remains.
- 1989-1990 – Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission complete current Bluefish Fishery Management Plan; Council adopts plan in 1989, NOAA Fisheries adopts plan in 1990; management measures include a permit to catch and sell bluefish and limits on the amount of bluefish an angler or vessel can possess; allocates no more than 20% of total catch to commercial fishery.
- 2000 – Managers implement Amendment 1 to the management plan which included a 9-year rebuilding plan, requiring the bluefish stock to be rebuilt by Dec 31, 2009; also reduced the commercial share to 17% of the total catch.
- 2001 – Framework 1 created a quota set-aside for the purpose of conducting scientific research.
- 2007 – Amendment 2 standardized bycatch reporting methodology.
- 2009 – Atlantic bluefish declared rebuilt.
- 2011 – Amendment 3 established annual catch limits and accountability measures.
- 2014 – Amendment 4 changed recreational accountability measures.
- 2015 – Amendment 5 implemented Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology.
- 2017 – Amendment 6 implemented management measures to prevent the development of new, and the expansion of existing, commercial fisheries on certain forage species in the Mid-Atlantic.
- 2017 – Framework 2 implemented a requirement for vessels that hold party/charter permits to submit vessel trip reports electronically (eVTRs) while on a trip carrying passengers for hire.
- 2018 – Framework 3 established a process for setting constant multi-year acceptable biological catch (ABC) limits. This action clarifies that the Atlantic Bluefish FMPs will now automatically incorporate the best available scientific information in calculating ABCs (as all other Mid-Atlantic plans do) rather than requiring a separate management action to adopt them. This action also clarifies the process for setting ABCs for each of the four types of ABC control rules.
- 2021 – Amendment 7 implemented a comprehensive set of measures to update the fishery management plan by by responding to changes in stock health and distribution. This action revised the goals and objectives of the fishery management plan, reallocated quota between the commercial and recreational fisheries, reallocated commercial quota among the states, implemented a 7-year rebuilding plan to rebuild the overfished stock by 2029, revised the sector quota transfer measures, and revised how management uncertainty is applied during the specifications process.
Science Overview
NOAA Fisheries conducts various research activities on the biology, behavior, and population health of bluefish. The results of this research are used to inform management decisions for this species.
For detailed information about stock status, management, assessments, and resource trends, you can search for bluefish, and any other species of interest, using NOAA’s StockSMART web tool.
Addressing Bluefish Data and Research Needs
The bluefish management plan allows managers to set aside a small percentage of the annual catch limit for research. Proceeds from the sale of this set-aside catch are used to fund research on the fishery.
In 2012, managers established a coast-wide sampling program designed to improve the quantity and quality of information used in bluefish stock assessments. The program resulted in a significant increase in the amount of age-length keys and catch-at-age data that was used in future benchmark assessments.
Several key scientific gaps still need to be addressed to better inform bluefish management. For example, more research is needed on how much bluefish is caught and discarded in the commercial fisheries for bluefish and other species, the resulting impacts, and general population trends. There is also uncertainty in the methods used by scientists to monitor bluefish abundance and in estimating recreational catch along the Atlantic coast.
More Information
Recent Science Blogs
Research
2019 Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel Wingspread Research
Consistently fishing a trawl survey net is essential to creating a consistent data time series.
Quota Monitoring in the Greater Atlantic Region
Provided on a weekly basis, catch and landings reports are used to evaluate and support our fishery management programs.