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Beche De Mer
(Sea Cucumber - Trepang)

Tailor are also known as Bluefish (USA), Elf (South Africa), choppers & greenbacks (Aust)

Tailor are greenish blue or blue on the back and the sides and belly are silvery.   Their fins are pale green, tinged with yellow and the base of the pectoral fins are bluish.  Both jaws have numerous strong, sharp teeth and the lower jaw protrudes.   There are 2 dorsal fins, the first with 7 or 8 short spines and the second with soft rays and a higher profile than the first dorsal.  The rayed anal fin is almost as long as the second dorsal fin.  Tailor have forked tails with broad lobes.

Tailor live in coastal waters of all states except the Northern Territory.

Tailor can be found in waters ranging from estuaries and brackish waters, along surf beaches and rocky headlands and are occasionally found offshore near the surface and depths up to 50 metres.

Spawning usually takes place from late winter to early spring.  They are serial spawners (that is they release eggs and milt on a number of occasions during the spawning season)  Large females may produce more than 1 million eggs.  The eggs are pelagic.

Juvenile tailor feed upon small crustaceans, cephalopods and fish, while adult tailor prey mainly on smaller schooling fish, particularly pilchards, sea garfish and sea mullet.  Tailor are cannibalistic and can be caught using tailor flesh as bait.

Fishing for Tailor:

Tailor are one of the most popular recreational angling species.  Estimates indicate that there are more tailor taken by recreational fishermen than commercial operators. Anglers mainly fish for tailor using rod-and-line from beaches or rock platforms using whole baits of pilchard or sea garfish.  The baits are presented on 3 to 4 'ganged' (joined together through the eye of each hook) hooks.  The use of metal lures or 'spinners' is also popular.  Tailor are mainly caught at dawn and duck when the fish move closer inshore to feed.

• Read more about Fishing for Tailor or Bluefish

Cooking Tailor:

Fresh tailor are very tasty, although their soft, slightly grey meat bruises very easily and does not respond particularly well to freezing. Tailor flesh is mildly flavoured, flaky and somewhat oily. It is ideally suited to smoking, particularly cold smoking or smoke curing. All tailor destined for the table should be killed and bled as soon as they are landed, and cleaned within an hour or two of capture.

• Read more about Cooking Tailor or Bluefish | Recipes using Tailor

With commercial fishing, the methods used are mainly gillnets and beach seines. Includes buyers and sellers of Tailor fish.

• Read more about Commercial Fishing for Tailor (Pomatomus saltrix) | Tailor Fishery