Shad

Description:

Shad, also known as elf, tailor or bluefish is one of South Africa’s most popular angling fish, being caught by over 300,000 anglers every year. Shad are widely distributed in the warm coastal waters of the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Habitat:

Their perfectly shaped, streamlined bodies allow for speed through the water and their silvery colouration, light beneath and darker above, helps them to blend in with the ocean. These fish are found in both sandy and rocky areas, from the shore down to depths of 100m.

Notes:

Shad breed in warmer waters of KwaZulu-Natal from spring to mid-summer. These fish reach sexual maturity at one to two years of age, when they are about 25 to 30cm in length. Large female shad may produce up to two million eggs in one season, although most females produce about one million eggs each season. The eggs hatch after a few days and the pelagic larvae drift passively inshore of the Agulhas Current back to the south-eastern Cape, where they spend their first year living in large marine bays