Mackerel Scomber Scombrus Necessary Information to Know
September 01, 2017
Mackerel
scomber scombrus has other nickname if you curious,
they called as Norwegian mackerel, Boston mackerel, and Scottish Mackerel. But
of course people simply call it ‘mackerel’. It is a fish that love to swim in
temperate water and mostly can be found in Mediterranean Sea, Northern Atlantic
Ocean, and the Black Sea. During warm season, they like to appear on the
surface or close to the shore and during colder season in the autumn and winter
months, they will start to migrate into deeper southern water to seek warmer
temperature. They will swim in large school when migrating from one point to
another.
About
mackerel scomber scombrus
Atlantic mackerel has elongate body just
like most of mackerel species. It has wavy black lines marked the steel blue
form and it has pointed long nose. The fish has two spiny dorsal, anal fins,
two pectoral fins, and small caudal. Mackerel
scomber scombrus can grow up to 30 cm for mature or adult fish, but some
people have been caught mackerel scomber as large as 2 feet or 60 cm. Official
maximum weights is 7.5 lb or 3.4 kg.
Atlantic mackerel
scomber scombrus is a highly commercial fish and
typically caught after for its delicious meats. It has very oily texture and the
fish provides high quality omega 3 fatty acids oil. Almost one million tons of
mackerel Atlantic has been caught every year worldwide. Large quantity of
mackerel Atlantic fish sold as fresh, frozen, canned, and smoked. Although they
have been caught in really large quantities, but the stocks remain sustainable
and abundant.
Large school of Atlantic mackerel will
break down into shoals when they want to feed on larger prey. When they consume
plankton, the fish mouth will be opened as wide as they can and then they will
swim in packed school to form net-like miniature group of fish. They will trap
the plankton so they cannot escape and then capture with the mouth opened wide
apart.
Mackerel
scomber scombrus products
As a part of important commercial fish in
the fishing industry, mackerel Atlantic like to be captured by fisheries using
purse seine method as well as gill and trammel nets, trolling lines, and
trawls. World annual catch is around one million tons and in 2014, it almost
reaches 1.5 million tons. Countries that like to catch and contribute large
amount of Atlantic mackerel are Norway and United Kingdom.
Mackerel scomber
scombrus offers strong flavor with deep red meat color
that attract many consumers. They are typically sold as fresh, frozen, smoked,
canned, fillets, and steaks. The fish is extremely healthy because they offer
pack of nutrients such as protein, omega 3 fatty acids, B vitamins, niacin,
selenium, potassium, and many more. The nutrients content nearly twice compared
with salmon. As for the mercury level, North Atlantic Mackerel is safer fish to
be consumed unlike Spanish and King mackerel species because they offer lower
mercury accumulation. Even according to United States Environmental Protection
Agency guidelines, you can consume the fish at least two times per week with
moderate amount of course.
In death, Atlantic mackerel remain a
beautiful fish with nice appearance and when cooked, they offer delicious
texture and taste to have. If you like, you can pan seared the mackerel Atlantic mackerel fish fillets. First, you can marinate the fillets with mixture of water, salt,
and pepper. You can also add some oil and lemon juice and the let the fish sit
for around 15 minutes. After that, you can pan seared the fish without oil
until both of the sides turn golden brown. The smell will soon fill the room,
it will offer oily aroma with juicy texture and tender meats. When the fish is
done the skin will taste so crispy and you can flake the flesh with some
pressure of fork.
If you want to buy frozen fillets mackerel, you
should thaw the first before cooking it. Buy frozen fillets at grocery store
and then store it to the refrigerator overnight to let it thaw. For quick
thawing process, you can soak the frozen fish (still in the package) in cold
water for few hours or rinse the frozen fish under cold running water. You can
also grill the mackerel scomber scombrus
fish with the same marinating process.
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