Bluefish migration, the 15 April – 31 August ban and the 20 cm minimum size; why we buy nothing under 24 cm.
Every year when September comes, Istanbul asks the same question: are the bluefish here yet? After spending the summer feeding in the Black Sea, bluefish migrate south to the Marmara and the Aegean as the water cools. Because their route runs through the Bosphorus, from September to December the strait is where bluefish are caught most and eaten at their best. But the season is not set by migration alone; the fishing ban and the minimum size rule are part of the calendar too.
15 April – 31 August
To protect spawning, commercial purse-seine and trawl fishing in Turkish seas stops every year on 15 April and resumes on 1 September. The purse seiners that leave port on the morning of 1 September bring in the first bonito and bluefish of the season, which is why the opening day feels like a holiday for fishermen. Line fishing and small-scale net fishing continue through the summer under specific rules, but most of the fish you see on summer slabs is farmed or line-caught in the Aegean.
Çinekop, sarıkanat, lüfer
In Istanbul bluefish have different names according to size. Small fish are called çinekop, slightly larger ones sarıkanat, and big ones lüfer; very large fish are known as kofana. The fisheries communiqué sets a legal minimum size of 20 cm for bluefish, and catching, selling or transporting fish below that size is forbidden.
At Yalıçapa we set ourselves a stricter rule and do not buy bluefish under 24 cm. The reason is simple: bluefish only begin to spawn at around this size. Every fish caught before it spawns is a fish missing from next year's shoal. Recent studies pointing to declining bluefish stocks show clearly why this limit matters.
What to do at the fish stall
- Roughly measure the fish: don't buy anything shorter than a hand span (about 20 cm).
- The eyes should be bright, the gills red and the body firm.
- Bluefish spoils quickly; cook it the day you buy it.
- If prices seem high in early September, wait a few weeks; supply grows in October.
How to cook bluefish
Bluefish is oily, so it is best grilled. When the charcoal has lost its flame and glows red, cook the fish skin side down for 4–5 minutes, then turn it once. Salt and lemon are all you need. Larger fish are also excellent poached or filleted and cooked en papillote. Whichever method you choose, the flavour comes from the fish having landed at the pier that very day. Throughout the season we update our board every morning with where the bluefish came from and its price per kilo.
The end of the season
From mid-December the shoals move south into the Marmara and the Aegean; catches in the Bosphorus fall and prices rise. That is why you won't see bluefish on our board in January: rather than a few expensive late-season fish, we move on to winter fish such as anchovy, turbot and whiting. The next season will begin, once again, with the boats leaving port on the morning of 1 September.