Bunker fish, commonly known as menhaden are mostly harvested for use as fertilizers, animal feed, and bait for fisheries. This is because they tend to decay faster. It means that if you are to feed on them you have to consume them when they are still fresh.
How Do Bunker Fish Look Like?
Bunker fish, also known as menhaden, are small flat-bodied fish mostly found in the Atlantic. They have deeply forked tails and bright silver scales. They also have smaller dark spots behind the main, black humeral spot.
Can You Eat Bunker Fish?
Bunker fish are a source of omega -3 fatty acids and are also used to develop human and animal supplements. This is although they are not consumed directly by humans. They are too bony and oily to feed on.
They are also important because of their position in the food chain. They are among the few types of fish in the sea able to process the leafy greens of the sea. Bunker fish are filter feeders and they feed by swimming rapidly in water to catch plankton with their mouths wide open.
They strain the algae and plankton from water and by so doing, they provide cleaner water in the ocean at an incredible rate. They also filter Nitrogen and plant detritus from the estuaries. This makes them the most important fish in the sea. They are however eaten by predatory game fish like tuna, swordfish, and stripers, among others.
Bunker fish is also used to make products like lipstick, margarine, cookies, salad dressings, and fish oil supplements. Bunker fish are also known to filter seven gallons of water every minute. A mature bunker fish is about 15 inches long.
Bunker fish is also a rich source of protein for many species including dolphins, eagles, bluefish, humpback whales, and herons, among others. They depend on the bunker fish for food to survive.
How to Catch Bunker Fish?
The use of bait is the best when fishing the bunker fish. This is because stripers cannot resist their oily scent. Get to use a fresh head and a fish finder rig. Ensure you change the bait after about 20 minutes.
How Do Bunker Fish Live?
Mature bunker fish form large near-surface schools near the ocean shore waters where they live during early spring and throughout winter. During summer the schools differentiate making the older fish move farther to the north. When winter comes all sizes of the bunker fish migrate south to the waters of the North Carolina Coast. They have a life span of about 10- 12 years.
Conclusion
Bunker fish are the most important fish in the sea due to their unending values. They are not consumed directly by humans as they have a lot of oil and are very bony. Humans consume the omega 3 fatty acids from these fish that are essential in their bodies. Menhaden also play a major role in the food chain. They feed on plankton and algae and thus cleansing the waters.
