Gear Up for Scup: How to Fill a Cooler with Porgy

If ever there was a Rodney Dangerfield of fish, it would be the lowly saltwater scup, or porgy. It gets no respect from the bulk of the East’s saltwater anglers.

“I tell you what, we sure respect them,” says Capt. Greg Dubrule, who runs the party boat Blackhawk out of Niantic, Conn. “In many regards, they’re our bread-and-butter fish. Yeah, guys come with us to catch striped bass and bluefish, but scup are a must. As of mid-August, we’d caught almost 11,000 of them. What people don’t often talk about is that scup are absolutely outstanding to eat. In the fall, they only get better as they fatten up before winter. They’re just an outstanding fish, and we typically run two trips a day to catch them.”

PORGY POINTERS

Many consider scup to be the saltwater equivalent of freshwater bluegills, though they typically grow larger and fight better. The average scup runs from a half pound to two pounds.

They’re typically found on sandy bottoms early in spring before moving to areas with rockier bottoms thereafter. Mussel beds are an all-important scup hot spot. Make no mistake, though: Location is everything.

Though Dubrule and his crew will typically need to move his boat often to find fish, they’ll eventually hit the mother lode. “Yeah, on some days, typically after a storm has come through, we’ll need to shift,” he says. “But we will find them for sure.”

Bait and rigs are very important. “Most guys fish a typical high-low rig and use clams as bait,” he adds. “That’s what we supply them with, although squid is a great alternative since it can take more abuse and last on the hook longer—
especially with the light-pickers. Quality hooks are a must. We usually rely on Gamakatsu Siwash No. 2 baitholder hooks. Sinkers run the gamut from 3 to 12 ounces depending on the bottom and the tide. Twelve- to 20-pound braid gives the best sensitivity for bottom. Rods don’t need to have extra-stiff backbones, and 6 1/2- or 7-foot lengths will suffice.”

Scup Ups and Downs

“If you fish New England, it’s hard not to acknowledge the rapid increase in scup numbers in recent years,” says Capt. John McMurray.

“While addressing bycatch in the squid fishery was a piece of the puzzle—and for sure, scup had some good spawning/recruitment events, likely driven by environmental factors—a federally mandated rebuilding plan initiated in 2007, which put real limits on a fishery that was more or less unconstrained up until then, is likely the driving factor behind the explosion.”

Scup are now somewhere around 200 percent of the target biomass scientists have established to denote a healthy, rebuilt stock. That is indeed good news. So why are we seeing more constraints on the fishery now?

“Allocation is a big part of it,” McMurray adds. “The commercial sector gets 78 percent of the coastal quota compared to a 22 percent recreational allocation, although that is likely to change. The irony here is that the current commercial quota exceeds market demand. Still, the commercial side seems loath to relinquish any of it.”

It’s a general rule with recreational fisheries that abundance and increased access results in a surge in the number of anglers targeting that species, the number of trips made and, ultimately, the number of fish landed.

When you combine that increase in effort with a relatively small quota—not to mention declining abundance trends resulting from low recruitment in recent years—it becomes clear why we are constantly exceeding the Recreational Harvest Limits (RHL) the feds set to keep the stock from becoming overfished. Federal law demands proactively getting fishing back under control.

SCUP FUTURES

Federal limits for scup this year are 30 fish per person per day, with a 9-inch minimum-size limit.

“Scientists told the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council that scup landings would need to be reduced by 56 percent to stay in compliance with federal law,” says McMurray. “That was a hard pill for many Council members to swallow given current abundance levels, and the fact that the commercial quota was rarely getting fully utilized. In other words, the scup stock didn’t appear to be in any real trouble—at least not yet. But we still have to acknowledge that if the stock is trending downward while fishing pressure remains high, then it’s only a matter of time before we’re right back where we started with scup.”

In the end, the Council reached a “compromise” alternative, increasing the minimum size by one inch and keeping the bag limit the same. Still, in theory that would only achieve a 33 percent reduction, well short of the legally obligated 56 percent that researchers stated would prevent anglers from exceeding the recreational harvest limit again.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries office was clear this was unacceptable and will probably close federal waters to scup fishing, as that’s the only real option to further constrain landings. Assuming that does happen, it would technically prohibit any charter or party boat holding a federal scup permit from also targeting summer flounder and black seabass in federal waters.

That’s not terrible, though, because federal scup permits are open-access. A charter or party boat could cancel its scup permit, which would allow it to again target summer flounder and black sea bass outside of the 3-mile limit. If federal waters are reopened, a boat could just have a new scup permit issued.

“So, while closing federal waters would seem, on its face, to have serious implications, and could indeed impact more than a few charter and party operations, only about 6 percent of all recreational scup landings come from federal waters, so any closure shouldn’t be a serious impediment to the recreational scup fishery,” McMurray adds.

FROM SEA TO TABLE

• The way to delicious scup starts at the cooler.

If you’ve never tried porgies before, you’re in for a big surprise because they are truly one of the best-tasting saltwater fish.

“We’ve got guys and gals who are regulars on the boat, and they know exactly how to take the best care of their fish, and that does not include burlap sacks” says Capt. Greg Dubrule. “When they come onboard, their cooler is already prepared with an ice-and-salt slurry. When the fish is flipped onto the deck, they bleed it and put it into the slurry-filled cooler. That’s the absolute best way to ensure that you’ll have awesome fish.”

According to the Johnson & Wales culinary school in Rhode Island, the best way to treat scup is to gut them, remove the fins, scale them and pat them dry. Then, score the skin with a knife, lightly marinate them in salt, pepper, a touch of honey and soy sauce, and put the whole fish on the grill or in a cast iron pan. Cook for 15 minutes until done.

Of course, beer-battering and deep-frying fillets is also a great option.

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• This article was featured in the November 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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