School Mackerel

When Caught

Year round, with peak supplies of Spanish mackerel occurring in September and October and grey mackerel in July and August

Important Features

Wild/Farmed: Wild
Habitat: Saltwater, Caught in open water and near reefs
Recovery Rate: Fillets: 80% from Spanish mackerel trunks

School Mackerel Research

FRDC provides a comprehensive search of the latest research papers and images on School Mackerel

Remarks

Chilling mackerel immediately on capture will help ensure a high-quality product.

Mackerel species are sometimes responsible for ciguatera fish poison-ing and scombroid fish poisoning (histamine).

In Japan, the generic common name for members of the genus Scomberomorus is sawara while for members of the genus Scomber, saba is used.

Imports

India, Myanmar and Thailand:: Spanish mackerel fillets

Common Size

50-80cm

Overseas Names

GB: Queensland school mackerel; USA: doggie

Grading

No standard grades exist but whole Spanish mackerel are sometimes graded as presented below.

School Mackerel (Scomberomorus queenslandicus)

Photograph by CSIRO

Nutrition Facts

per 100g of raw product

Kilojoules	na
Cholesterol	36mg
Sodium	na
Total fat (oil)	3.0g
Saturated fat	50% of total fat
Monounsaturated fat	30% of total fat
Polyunsaturated fat	20% of total fat
Omega-3, EPA	75mg
Omega-3, DHA	281mg
Omega-6, AA	66mg

Cooking Ideas

Bake	Boil	Deep Fry
Grill/barbecue	Poach	Raw
Roe	Roe & Milk	Salted
Shallow Fry	Smoke	Steam/microwave

Note: Cooking Ideas identified by dark bold text are relevant to this species

Among Australia s most popular commercial fishes (particularly in the north of the country), mackerels have a thin, edible skin with few scales making them very popular to enjoy when dining out or at home. Spanish mackerel, an especially good eating finfish, produces an attractive plate-size cutlet or an essentially boneless fillet.

Mackerel can be fried, baked, poached, grilled, marinated, smoked and barbecued it is considered by some to be the best barbecue fish in the South Pacific. One should always take particular care not to overcook mackerel, and if the mackerel is being fried it should first be lightly salted. Mackerel frames are excellent for fish stock.

The high oiliness of these species often requires the addition of an acid to balance the richness. This is easily achieved by baking the mackerel with vinegar and vegetables that, in turn, will give the mackerel a slightly pickled taste and provide a balance of flavours. Mackerel is also perfectly suited to an aromatic herb crust, served with baked tomatoes and anchovy butter.

Some mackerel is deep fried in fish and chip shops in northern Queensland. This cooking method is otherwise uncommon for mackerel.

Flavour: Strong, Distinct, fishy flavour
Oiliness: Medium to very High
Moisture: Dry to Medium
Texture: Medium to firm
Flesh Colour: Light pink to white
Thickness: Medium fillets
Bones: There are only a few bones and these are easily removed.
Price: Mackerel are

Suggested Wines

Smoked or marinated mackerel is enhanced by the effect of crisp, dry white wine to counterbalance its natural oiliness.

If the mackerel is simply smoked, select a racy sauvignon blanc.

The Spanish mackerel dry red curry with a green papaya salad from the Pente CafÈ Restaurant in Darwin

(p. 313) is best complemented by a sparkling red.

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