If you are involved in catching greater amberjack recreationally or commercially, or work at a wholesale or retail fish house, we would like to hear from you!
If you are involved in catching greater amberjack recreationally or commercially, or work at a wholesale or retail fish house, we would like to hear from you!! The 2020-2023 Greater Amberjack Visioning Program is funded by NOAA to help develop a research program that is informed by fishers like yourself. Florida Sea Grant is looking for input from recreational, commercial, headboat/charterboat captains and mates to tell us what they are seeing on the water about greater amberjack. The program goal of the research project is to develop additional data, assessment approaches, and knowledge to improve greater amberjack abundance estimates.
Greater amberjack is a long-lived fish (~17 years) that reproduces around 4 years of age and can grow to 200 pounds and 6 feet long. Greater amberjack are distributed throughout the globe, and can be found in the Mediterranean, Pacific, Indian Ocean, Atlantic, and the Gulf of Mexico. Greater amberjack is a good tasting fish and makes a great smoked fish dip. There are two similar species, the lesser amberjack and the banded rudderfish.
Greater amberjack is considered overfished in the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, the season is closed most of the year except for the months of May, August, September, and October, compared to the year around open season in the South Atlantic. The minimum fork length is 34” in the Gulf compared to 28” in the Atlantic, with the same daily recreational bag limit of one fish per angler. Overfishing means the rate of fish being caught is too high, and above the maximum sustainable yield. Overfished means the population is down overall.
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Image via University of Florida.
