Pelagic Fish

Pelagic fish live in the open water column rather than on the seabed, split into small pelagics (anchovy, sardine, herring, mackerel, capelin) and large pelagics (tunas, billfish, oceanic sharks). They are caught chiefly by purse seine, pelagic trawl, pole-and-line, and longline, often around fish aggregating devices for tuna. Small pelagics are short-lived forage species with volatile recruitment and are managed against escapement and forage-reserve targets, while large pelagics are highly migratory species managed by tuna RFMOs under UNCLOS Article 64. The pelagic-demersal distinction governs gear, life history, and the management framework that applies.