Spanish Mackerel

State waters management of Spanish mackerel along the Atlantic Coast is coordinated through the Commission’s Coastal Pelagics Management Board (formerly part of the South Atlantic State/Federal Fisheries Management Board). Management measures for Spanish mackerel include size limits, recreational bag limits, and commercial trip limits. The Commission’s Omnibus Amendment for Spot, Spotted Seatrout, and Spanish Mackerel was approved in 2011. Specific to Spanish mackerel, the Amendment includes commercial and recreational management measures, adaptive management measures, and a process for Board review and action in response to changes in the federal regulations. This allows for complementary management throughout the range of the species.

Addendum I (2013) established a pilot program to allow states to reduce the Spanish mackerel minimum size limit for the commercial pound net fishery to 11½ inches from July through September for the 2013 and 2014 fishing years. The Addendum responded to reports about the increased incidence of Spanish mackerel ¼ to ½ inch short of the 12-inch fork length minimum size limit in pound nets during the summer months. The program reduced dead discards of these shorter fish and was extended through the 2018 fishing season. After 2018, North Carolina, the only state to implement the reduced minimum size limit, stopped requesting approval of the program due to no further request from pound net fishermen to continue the program, and due to recent closures in federal waters.

Cooperative management by the Commission and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) has successfully rebuilt Spanish mackerel stocks after years of low biomass and increased fishing pressure during the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2012, Spanish mackerel was assessed and peer reviewed through the SouthEast Data, Assessment and Review (SEDAR). The results of the 2012 assessment (SEDAR 28) indicate that the stock is not overfished and it is not experiencing overfishing. In 2022, an operational assessment (i.e., update to the last assessment) was completed through the SEDAR process with data through 2020. This most recent assessment (SEDAR 78) indicates the same stock status: the stock is not overfished and it is not experiencing overfishing based on a three-year average of fishing mortality (2018-2022). However, in the terminal year of the assessment (2020), the model found the estimated fishing rate to be above the maximum fishing mortality threshold (MFMT) indicating that if the 2020 overfishing rate continues, the stock may fall into an overfishing status.

The next Spanish mackerel stock assessment is scheduled for 2027 through SEDAR.

Spanish mackerel support significant recreational and commercial fisheries in South Atlantic waters and the species is gaining importance in the Mid-Atlantic. Many anglers target and catch Spanish mackerel to use whole fish as bait for big game fishing.

Total landings of Spanish mackerel in were an estimated 8.0 million pounds in calendar year 2023 and 8.2 million pounds in 2024. In 2023, 36% of landings were from the commercial fishery and 64% from the recreational fishery. In 2024, 33% of landings were from the commercial fishery and 67% from the recreational fishery. 

Only three states, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia, have directed commercial fisheries for Spanish mackerel. Coastwide commercial landings have generally been below 4 million pounds per year 1995. Coastwide commercial landings peaked in 2021 at 4.8 million pounds followed by a decrease to 2.4 million pounds in 2022, 2.8 million pounds in 2023, and 2.7 million pounds in 2024, with most landings occurring in Florida.

For the recreational fishery, coastwide recreational landings peaked in 2021 at 8.8 million pounds (7.3 million fish) followed by a decrease to 4.0 million pounds (4.0 million fish) in 2022, 5.2 million pounds (4.3 million fish) in 2023, and 5.5 million pounds (4.2 million fish) in 2024 . Though lower than the 2021 peak, 2023-2024 landings were above the ten-year average landings. The number of recreationally harvested fish appears to show a cyclical trend, with low harvest years interspersed with higher harvests. Florida and North Carolina have historically accounted for the majority of recreational landings in both number and weight.