southern blue whiting
Micromesistius australis · Gadidae · forage fish
Schooling fish of the slope of Argentine Patagonia, the Falklands and Chile. It is heavily fished by commercial fleets and almost never appears for anglers using rods.
Also called: pescada-azul-austral, polaca, pescada de tres aletas, southern blue whiting
- maximum
- 90 cm
- record/max.
- 0.8 kg
- depth
- 200–400 m
the right time
to be on the water
Choose the place and the species. The index, from 0 to 100, combines weather, sun, moon and tide with each fish's habits. Up to 28 days, with each day's confidence.
Reading the weather across 3 global models and 31 simulations…
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hour by hour
tap or drag on the chart to read each hour · on a keyboard, arrow keyssee hour-by-hour table
why this index at —?
choose the day
Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
the fishing month at a glance
what's the best window for the crew?
Choose how many fishing days. We compare each stretch by its average index, discount days with a warning or closed season, and show the 3 best.
trend for the coming weeks
Line: the middle value of 31 simulations of the American GEFS model. Band: where 8 out of 10 fall. Narrow, firm trend; wide, high uncertainty.
everything about the southern blue whiting
who is the southern blue whiting
Fish of the family Gadidae, the cods. It reaches 90 cm and lives in deep sea, between 50 and 900 m, but is mostly found between 200 and 400 m. In summer the school rises to the shelf, and in winter it descends to the slope. It also occurs near South Georgia, South Shetland and South Orkney Islands. It is heavily fished by commercial fleets, and the species almost never reaches rod fishing.
Essential profile. Identification, where it occurs and rules, with data from FishBase and the cited regulations. Season, time of day, technique and bait are added once we have a good source for the southern blue whiting.
fun facts
- Juveniles feed on euphausiids and amphipods, small crustaceans.
identification
Elongated, rounded body, with long dorsal and anal fins, a trait common to the cod family. The name used in Chile, three-finned, recalls the three dorsal fins of gadids. It lives on the slope and, part of the year, on the outer shelf, at depths sport fishing usually does not reach. It forms schools, and adults mainly stay between 200 and 400 m.
where found
In Latin America it occurs in Argentine Patagonia, the Falklands, Uruguay and off Chile.
Habitat: Slope and outer shelf, between 200 and 400 m, on bottoms down to 900 m.
rules for the southern blue whiting
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
We found no species-specific rule beyond the region's general rules.
catch and release
catch and release Releasing the fish alive, quickly and with a wet hand. During a closed season it isn't always allowed: what the regulation says applies.
Not dangerous to people. It lives on deep bottoms, so it almost never reaches rod fishing.
in the kitchen
It goes to market frozen in blocks and is also turned into fishmeal, and it can be fried or baked.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00372, b = 3.15; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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sources and references
Essential profile: size, length-weight, depth, countries and conservation come from FishBase and the cited regulations, and the texts were written from those sources. Season, time of day, sensitivities, technique and baits and lures are not included yet, because we did not find a good source for this species.
- scientific FishBase: Micromesistius australis (ficha da espécie)Size, length-weight, depth, habitat, distribution, biology, and IUCN status. Page checked on Oct 13, 2026.
- scientific FishBase: nomes populares de Micromesistius australisNames by country and language.
where each number comes from
The weather comes from three independent global models, cross-checked hour by hour: when they agree, confidence goes up; when they diverge, the band between them shows on the chart. Beyond 16 days, we use the GEFS ensemble of 31 simulations: if 20 of the 31 predict rain, the chance of rain is 65%. Sun and moon are calculated astronomically, with no uncertainty.
The index adds up, weighted for each species: time of day (species curve anchored to real sunrise and sunset), moon (transits, rise and set, phase), pressure (3 h trend and 24 h swing), water temperature (in rivers, estimated from air temperature; at sea, estimated by an ocean model), wind, rain, clouds, tide and the month in the species' cycle.
sources for this lookup
how accurate the forecast is
Accuracy measured in the reference project (4 regions, 93 days, forecast vs. observed): maximum temperature is off by 0.6 °C on average the next day and 1.7 °C at 7 days; rain of 5 mm or more is detected 76% of the time the next day and 57% at 7 days. Detection isn't everything: the false alarm rate isn't published here yet, and 93 days in 4 regions is still a small sample. We now also measure every day, at the app's destinations: