By Deven Chakrabarti
The Northeast Atlantic is an ever-changing environment with abundant diversity. The vast majority of Northeast anglers are familiar with coastal fish species such as striped bass, fluke, and tautog. The big game fishermen are familiar with pelagic species such as tuna, dolphinfish, and marlin. However, outside of dock tales and social media posts, very few are aware of the abundance of “exotics” that have begun to inhabit our part of the Atlantic.
The Gulf Stream current is a fast-flowing ocean current that carries warm, clear water from the Gulf of Mexico up the coastline and out into the open Atlantic. This current is the heart of the pelagic fishery in the Northeast. Eddy currents pull warm water from the Gulf Stream closer to shore, where it meets the cooler, nutrient-rich water on the continental shelf. The pelagics from the Gulf Stream, pulled inshore by these eddies, make the Northeast canyons their home for the summer months due to the abundance of food available in these waters. If you observe the trend between productive fishing years and the number of eddies that contact the canyons, you’ll see a direct correlation between the two.
These eddies provide another different resource that is often overlooked. The Gulf Stream current runs fast — 10 to 15 knots in many places. Juvenile fish get swept along and have little choice but to go where the water takes them.
