Mackerel
ice fish or scientifically known as Champsocephalus
gunnari, is a small fish found in the southern sea only. Sadly, due to
overfishing, ice fish mackerel nowadays considered as depleted species. The
average size of ice fish mackerel is 22 to 25 inches long and when born is only
1 inch. Ice fish mackerel is mainly sold and distributed in Europe and Asian
countries. It has oily texture with firm and white flesh. Although it is
considered to be overfishing, but you can still be able to find suppliers that
sold ice fish mackerel, it is nice small seafood to have for simple meal.
Information
about Mackerel Ice Fish that you need to know
Below are quick explanation about mackerel ice fish which you may interested to know
especially if you have an idea to use this type of mackerel for homemade
cooking or processed into market products, such as:
-
The scientific name is Champsocephalus
gunnari and this fish belongs to the Channichthyidae family.
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Mackerel ice fish characteristically has body
with long spindle-shaped form with large head and unique elongate snout.
Although its mouth is considerably large but it has small set of teeth. It has
whitish gills while the body is bluish-silver in color.
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The average size of ice fish
mackerel is 22 to 25 inches long; however it can grow up to 66 cm and 2 kg. It
has lifespan up to 15 years.
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As for the habitat, they like
to swim around in large school but mostly found in deep water around 30-250
meters and some fish can be found to the depths of 700 meters. In a daily
cycle, they can swim and migrate up and down. As the fish become more mature in
age, they tend to stay in deeper waters.
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Mackerel ice fish like to feed
on small shrimp-like crustaceans such as mysids and krill. But they are mostly
haunting down by seals and penguins.
Today, it is hard for mackerel ice fish suppliers to capture the fish
since they are limited by quota due to the overfishing concern. The
Commonwealth manages the catch of the ice fish mackerel by some terms and
conditions. For example, commercial fishers is usually restricted their capture
by weight as well as the type of gears used for fishing. The fisheries need to
record their catches during each trip to fish the mackerel and they have been
monitored as well. AFMA decide the amount of fish that allowed to be caught per
year by recommendations from experts, scientist, member of the industry, and
fisheries managers.
Guides when
buying mackerel ice fish in the markets
Since mackerel icefish considered being
overfished, perhaps the mackerel ice fish price
in your area is more expensive than other abundant mackerel fish such as jack
or king mackerel. The reason alone is why you cannot buy ice fish mackerel
randomly or you will end up with bad product. There are several things that you
need to pay attention when purchasing mackerel icefish such as:
-
The fish can be sold into fresh
or frozen mackerel; this is why you should pay attention with the quality of
the fish before you pay for them.
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Fresh mackerel icefish should
appear with bright and clear eyes while the flesh is firm in texture and
slightly oily. And there is no bad odor comes from the fish instead it should
smell like sea water.
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Frozen fish should not have
visible freezer burn and when it does, this is mean that the fish is already
frozen too long.
About sustainable fishing for mackerel ice fish, it is really important to avoid
other species being caught. Many major organizations try to reduce by-catch
fishing method by monitoring on-board fishery to check whether the use of
fishing method will give some impact to the environment.
This is why you need to ask to the
suppliers as well before buying mackerel ice fish about their sustainable fishing method. With by-catch method,
other species such as sharks, turtles, and even sometime seabirds can be
accidentally caught too. You should make sure that the mackerel icefish you
purchase from those suppliers or vendors are sustainably caught or else, you
may want to avoid buying them.
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