The saithe ( or ) (''Pollachius virens'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of marine fish in the Pollock genus ''

Pollachius Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. ''Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United Kingd ...

''. Together with '' P. pollachius'', it is generally referred to in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

pollock Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. '' Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United King ...

. Other names include the Boston blue (separate from

bluefish The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...

), coalfish/coley, and saithe in the UK, where the young fish are called podleys in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

and northern England.

Description

This species can be separated from ''P. pollachius'' by looking at the relative lengths of the upper and lower jaws. ''P. pollachius'' has a longer underslung lower jaw while ''P. virens'' has approximately equal upper and lower jaw lengths. This gives a very different profile to the head. In general, ''P. pollachius'' is a brown or golden colour with a dark back while ''P. virens'' is bright silver with a very dark green back. ''P. virens'' generally appears to have relatively smaller eyes. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

of ''P. pollachius'' has a noticeable kink over the pectoral fins while that of ''P. virens'' is straighter. The flesh of coalfish (''P. virens'') is darkly coloured (hence the common name) while that of ''P. pollachius'' is similar to other members of the cod family. This dark colour in the fresh uncooked flesh may have led to the undeserved reputation of this fish as poor for eating. It is common in the northern parts of the Northern Atlantic, including the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

and

Palmas Altas Campus Palmas may refer to: Places Brazil * Palmas, Tocantins, the capital of the state of Tocantins in Brazil ** Palmas Airport * Palmas, Paraná, a centenary small city in the south of the state of Paraná in Brazil * Das Palmas River, Brazil Else ...

. Adults can typically live up to 16–20 years and grow to but individuals up to and weigh up to have been caught. Juveniles tend to be found close to shore, particularly in rocky areas, and tend to move out into deeper waters as they grow. The current

IGFA The International Game Fish Association (''IGFA'') is the leading authority on angling pursuits and the keeper of the most current World Record fishing catches by fish categories. Fishermen who are sport fishers are careful to follow their strin ...

All-Tackle World Record is which was caught at

Saltstraumen Saltstraumen is a small strait with one of the strongest tidal currents in the world. It is located in the municipality of Bodø in Nordland county, Norway. It is located about southeast of the town of Bodø. The narrow channel connects the o ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and th ...

. Norwegian scientists documented that saithe have made a habit of congregating around fish farms and feeding on uneaten salmon feeds which get through the net walls of the cages, with negative consequences on the taste of their flesh.

Reproduction

Saithe reach sexual maturity at 4–9 years old and are

iteroparous Semelparity and iteroparity are two contrasting reproductive strategies available to living organisms. A species is considered semelparous if it is characterized by a single reproductive episode before death, and iteroparous if it is characteri ...

, batch spawners with determinate fecundity. Females produce, depending on their size, between 500 thousand and 9 million eggs which are in diameter.

Fisheries

Saithe is fished year-round using gear such as Danish seine nets, trawlers, long lines and

gill nets Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

and is often caught in mixed species fishery with other

groundfish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They oc ...

species such as

cod Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not calle ...

and whiting. The main fishing grounds in the eastern Atlantic are in the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian terri ...

, around

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

, around the Faeroe Islands and in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

and

Celtic Sea The Celtic Sea ; cy, Y Môr Celtaidd ; kw, An Mor Keltek ; br, Ar Mor Keltiek ; french: La mer Celtique is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Ireland bounded to the east by Saint George's Channel; other limits incl ...

. Landings in the eastern Atlantic have fluctuated around in the period 1980–2017. All the stocks in eastern Atlantic are assessed by

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES; french: Conseil International de l'Exploration de la Mer, ''CIEM'') is a regional fishery advisory body and the world's oldest intergovernmental science organization. ICES is headqua ...

(ICES) which publish a recommendations on an annual basis for Total Allowable Catch. The commercial catch of saithe in the western Atlantic is taken by USA and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...

and has fluctuated around per year between 1980 and 2018. The population in the western Atlantic is assessed by USA

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditi ...

(NOAA) and

Fisheries and Oceans Canada Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO; french: Pêches et Océans Canada, MPO), is a Ministry (government department), department of the Government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Can ...

. All four stocks assessed in the eastern Atlantic and the stock in the western Atlantic are harvested sustainably with many saithe fisheries having been certified as sustainable by the

Marine Stewardship Council The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a non-profit organization which aims to set standards for sustainable fishing. Fisheries that wish to demonstrate they are well-managed and sustainable compared to the MSC's standards are assessed by a t ...

As food

Coalfish is edible and has commercial value, although it is considerably less valuable than premium whitefish such as

and

haddock The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Ocean and associated seas w ...

. To achieve a

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhync ...

-like orange color, it can be salted and smoked. In Germany, the fish is commonly sold as ''Seelachs'' (literally 'sea salmon'), although it is not closely related to any salmon. While a great deal of saithe consumed in Europe are caught in British waters, it is not a popular fish with consumers there. Most of the British saithe catch is thus exported to France, where it is widely eaten. Saithe is also used as food for domestic cats.

References

External links