Details
Micromesistius poutassou
A small gadid that forms enormous midwater schools in the northeastern Atlantic and is widely used for fish meal and processing.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
Common along northeastern Atlantic slopes, the Norwegian Sea, and waters around Iceland, mostly offshore in midwater and deeper layers.
The body is slender and silvery with a bluish back. It is small for a cod relative, with no obvious chin barbel.
Huge schools migrate offshore, shifting depth between day and night and gathering in spawning areas seasonally.
It eats krill, copepods, and small fish, exploiting plankton-rich midwater layers.
Spawning is concentrated near continental slopes, mainly in spring. Eggs and larvae drift widely with currents.
Blue whiting supports major reduction and processing fisheries and is prey for seabirds and larger fish in the North Atlantic.
