Northeast Atlantic mackerel
Mackerel is a pelagic and fast swimming fish species. It is distributed in the Northeast Atlantic from the Northwestern part of Africa north to the Barents Sea, and westwards in the Norwegian Sea to Iceland and Jan Mayen. Mackerel also enters the Baltic Sea, and furthermore exists in the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea.
Distribution and biology
Mackerel in European waters are managed as one stock, Northeast Atlantic mackerel, which exist of three spawning components: North Sea mackerel which spawn in the central part of the North Sea and Skagerrak (May-July); western mackerel which spawn west of Ireland and the British Isles (May-July); and southern mackerel which spawn in Spanish and Portuguese waters (February-May).
The mackerel spawn in the surface layers of the ocean. Larvae measures 3.5 mm at hatching and grow to about 20 cm already the same autumn. Mackerel lack swim bladders and therefore have to swim constantly in order to avoid sinking. They are typical plankton feeders and swim with an open mouth to filter plankton through their gills. Mackerel also prey on fish larvae and small fish. The mackerel prefer warmer waters and generally higher temperatures than 6°C. They become sexually mature at about 30 cm in length. The mature part of the North Sea component, which the mackerel along the Norwegian coast belong, overwinters outside the western part of Norway and in the outer part of the Norwegian Trench, reaching north up to Viking bank.
