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Seafood Watch - Seafood Guide

Croaker, Atlantic

© Diane Rome Peebles
SEAFOODRATINGMARKET NAMESWHERE CAUGHTHOW CAUGHT
Atlantic Croaker Best Choice: These fish are abundant, well managed and fished or farmed in environmentally friendly ways. Crocus, Hardhead, Grumbler U.S. Atlantic Non-trawled
Atlantic Croaker Good Alternative: These are good alternatives to the best choices column. There are some concerns with how they are fished or farmed – or with the health of their habitats due to other human impacts. Crocus, Hardhead, Grumbler U.S. Atlantic Trawled


Atlantic Croaker

As a fast-growing fish, Atlantic croaker has the potential to be a sustainable choice. It comes down to the gear used, with net-caught croaker being a “Best Choice” and trawled croaker being a “Good Alternative”.

Consumer Note

Atlantic croaker has a variety of common names including croaker, crocus, hardhead, King Billy, corvina, roncadina, corbina and grumbler.

Health Alert

Environmental Defense Fund has issued a health advisory for Atlantic croaker due to high levels of PCBs.

Summary

Atlantic croaker is a relatively fast-growing species, reaching maturity and able to begin reproducing in two to three years. These traits help make croaker resilient to being overfished.

Atlantic croaker is an important commercial and recreational fish along the coast. Nearly two-thirds of the commercially available fish are caught using gillnets, haul seines and pound nets. These croaker fisheries have minimal impact on the habitat and ecosystem and are considered a “Best Choice.”

Croaker is also caught by trawling. Trawling for croaker occurs primarily on the sandy seafloor and, while sandy bottoms are less damaged by the trawl gear than rocky habitats in deeper water, there are problems. Seafood Watch considers the effects of trawling on habitats and ecosystems in the croaker fishery as being of moderate conservation concern and ranked this fish as a “Good Alternative.”


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How fish are caught or farmed makes a difference. Fishing boat

 
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