DENR.DMF. NewsRelease - State urges fishermen to learn the difference between king
mackerel and Spanish mackerel
MOREHEAD CITY
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
The king mackerel are biting, but so are the Spanish
mackerel, and fishermen are getting them confused.
Confusing these two fish is problematic because the size
limit on king mackerel is twice the length of the size limit for Spanish
mackerel, and the bag limit for Spanish mackerel is five times higher than the
bag limit for the kings.
Anglers who get them mixed up may be forced to pay up to
$255 in fines and court costs. In fact, the North Carolina Marine Patrol
recently handed out 12 tickets to recreational fishermen in the southern
coastal area of the state for taking undersized king mackerel and possessing
over the bag limit of king mackerel.
“In one day, we seized 58 fish,” said Officer Jon Hall, who
patrolled the Cape Fear River at Southport Saturday.
From this past Friday to Sunday, Marine Patrol seized 81
king mackerel from recreational fishermen in the southern coastal area. The
seized fish were donated to a charity.
“People are just misidentifying king mackerel as being
Spanish mackerel,” Hall said.
To avoid getting a ticket, anglers need to learn to tell the
difference between the two fish.
Adult Spanish mackerel and juvenile king mackerel can look a
lot alike. Both are long, slender fish with a forked tail and bronze-colored
spots on the body. But the Spanish mackerel features a black spot on the first
dorsal fin that the king mackerel lacks.
Also, the king mackerel has a pronounced dip in the lateral
line below the second dorsal fin. The line on the Spanish mackerel gently
curves to the tail.
A color graphic showing the difference can be downloaded at
http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/mackerel-diagram.
The size limit for king mackerel is 24 inches fork length
(from the tip of the snout to the fork in the tail). Recreational fishermen are
allowed to keep 3 fish per person, per day.
The size limit for Spanish mackerel is 12 inches fork
length, and recreational fishermen are allowed to keep 15 fish per person, per
day.
For more information, please visit the state marine
fisheries agency’s website at
http://deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/marine-fisheries.
Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny
