lufer

This box was one of just two boxes of lufer seen on sale at the Istanbul market on a recent day.

Upstream Battle in the Bosphorus 2011

"We heard about a Romanian ship that pulled up a ton of lufer in a single net," he said ruefully.

Anglers Are in Dire Straits Along Istanbul's Bosphorus Marc Champion 2011

Mr. Ersin believes the lufer migration may be going the way of the mackerel, because too many less-mature bluefish, known as cenekop and sarikanat according to their sizes, are being caught.

Anglers Are in Dire Straits Along Istanbul's Bosphorus Marc Champion 2011

These lufer, at $20 a piece, did not come from the Bosphorus.

Anglers Are in Dire Straits Along Istanbul's Bosphorus Marc Champion 2011

The lufer -- a mature bluefish whose larger Atlantic cousin many American fishermen throw back in the sea due to its oily flavor -- is prized here.

Upstream Battle in the Bosphorus 2011

The fish most prized here is the lufer, a mature, bluefish that doesn't have the intensely oily flavor that causes many Americans to throw the lufer's bigger Atlantic cousins back in the water.

Anglers Are in Dire Straits Along Istanbul's Bosphorus Marc Champion 2011

Upstream in the Bosphorus Marc Champion/The Wall Street Journal One of just two boxes of prized lufer, mature bluefish, on sale at the Istanbul municipal wholesale fish market on a recent day.

Anglers Are in Dire Straits Along Istanbul's Bosphorus Marc Champion 2011