Lumpsucker

Scientific: Cyclopterus lumpus. English: Lumpsucker or lumpfish. Icelandic: Hrognkelsi, grásleppa (females) and rauðmagi (males). For more languages see the Marine Animal Dictionary.

Biology and distribution

The lumpsucker is a thick, ungainly, almost ball-shaped fish. The females are much larger, or usually from 35 to 55 cm long, but can reach up to 60 cm; the males are usually 28 to 40 cm long. It is found all around Iceland, but is more common in the colder waters north and east of the country. The lumpsucker is found in European waters from Murmansk in the north to the Bay of Biscay in the south. It is also around the Faroe Islands, in southern Greenlandic waters and from Hudson bay to Cape Cod in North America.

The lumpsucker is actually a pelagic fish that spends most of its time in the open ocean. However, in the late winter the mature part of the stock migrates to very shallow water to spawn. This is the time when the gillnet fisheries for lumpsuckers are conducted.

The spawning behaviour is quite distinct. The males arrive earlier than females, they make nests in the kelp beds and wait for the females. The females arrive, spawn and leave again while the male tends the nest until the eggs hatch. The males aggressively defend the nest during this time. The lumpsucker seems to feed on various pelagic invertebrates, even jellyfish.

Catch and fishing methods

The lumpsucker has been harvested around Iceland for centuries. During the spawning time they are in very shallow waters and therefore easy to catch. In fact, lumpsucker fisheries have bordered on being considered a type of agriculture instead of fisheries. Lumpsucker fisheries do still obey different rules from other fisheries. There is no quota, but a special permit is required. The lumpsuckers are only fished with special large mesh gillnets using small decked or undecked boats.

The males are considered a delicatessen by many people in Iceland and the catches for local consumption mostly target these. However, the females are virtually inedible except by hanging them up to dry for some time (then it is still an acquired taste). However, the roe that the females are full of when migrating to spawning grounds is very valuable. Most of the current catches are for the females and the only statistics available on lumpsucker catches are on these fisheries for the roe.

These fisheries have fluctuated between 3,000 and 13,000 tonnes annually, but have been around 4,000 tonnes recently. The fluctuations in the catches can mainly be explained by price fluctuations in the roe market.

Stock status (from the Marine Research institute)

In 2010, 8 700 t of female lumpsucker (Cyclopterus lumpus) were landed in Iceland, which is above the annual average landings in 1971–2009 of 6 100 t. It is characterized by large variation in annual catches. The fishery is partially managed by stakeholders, but increasing licensure, increasing effort, declining female index and continually declining male index in the spring bottom trawl survey are causes for concern. For the quota year 2011/2012, the MRI recommends that the landings of female lumpsucker not exceed 3 700 t, which corresponds to keeping the relative exploitation rate close to the average of the period 1985–2010. This advice should will be revisited following the groundfish survey in March 2012. Furthermore, it is recommended that all living spent females be released alive as they have little commercial value, and that both the fishery for male lumpsucker and lumpsucker as bycatch in other fisheries be monitored..

Processing and markets

The utilization of males and females differs significantly. All the males go to local consumption where they are traditionally boiled in water and vinegar and served with potatoes and a piece of lumpsucker liver. The females are almost exclusively fished for the roe, which is exported as luxury caviar. Most of the roe is exported to Sweden.

References and further information

References: (Þorsteinsson, 1981), (Jónsson & Pálsson, 2006).

For full citation and further information on the main species in general see this page

Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson, University of Akureyri