Blue cod is also a common name for Anoplopoma fimbria (sablefish) in the UK.

Blue cod, Parapercis colias, is a temperate marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 fish of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Pinguipedidae. It is also known variously as Boston blue cod, New Zealand cod, sand perch or its Māori

Maori language

Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

 names rawaru and pakirikiri.

It is exclusively found in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 in shallow waters around the rocky coasts of up to the depth of 150 m, though it is far more common south of Cook Strait. It is bluish green to blue black above with white toward the belly. Large examples are usually greenish blue in coloration, while smaller ones are blotched in varying shades of brown. An adult may grow to 60 cm in length and weigh from one to three kg. It feeds mainly on small fish and crabs. Blue cod is strongly territorial. Spawning takes place in southern spring. Blue cod can also change sex from female to male.

It is a plump fish which produces good fillets, but it has a very low oil content. It can be served battered, crumbed, pan-fried or baked. It is an important recreational species in the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 and is commercially harvested. Blue cod populations are managed sustainably under New Zealand’s fisheries quota management system, although are becoming scarce in some small areas due to fishing pressure. Annual catch range is between 1,300 to 2,000 tonne

Tonne

The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...

s.

External links

• Blue Cod Fishing and a link to the Blue Cod Fishing Regulations. Ministry of Fisheries.