Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus) are becoming a regular visitor to the Jersey shore and a popular target for recreational fishermen. They are a member of the family Sparidae, commonly referred to as the porgy family, and are related to pinfish and scup. There are three subspecies of sheepshead found throughout their range (Nova Scotia to the Carribean), with A. probatocephalus probatocephalus being the variety found along the East Coast. The other two subspecies, A. probatocephalus oviceps and A. probatocephalus aries, are found along the gulf coast and in the Caribbean respectively.

While most people associate sheepshead with the waters from the Gulf Coast to the Chesapeake Bay, they appear to be more and more numerous throughout the Northeast in recent years. While people are quick to attribute the increase of sheepshead locally to temperature changes in the water, this is actually more of a reclaiming of native habitat. In the late 1800’s through the early 1900s they were an abundant commercial and recreation fish around long island and NJ. However, these populations shrank throughout the twentieth century, to the point that biologists at the NOAA field station went as far as calling them “locally extinct” in the 1980s. This crash was thought to have been caused by a combination of overfishing, pollution and habitat degradation.

We see juvenile sheepshead in our seining survey (thought they were conspicuously absent in 2025), typically throughout our southern sites. They usually show up in our sampling in August, when they range from 22-50 mm. At these sizes, the sheepshead relate to sea grass beds until they reach 60 mm when they start seeking out harder structure and prey. One anomaly that we see in NJ, is a lack of subadults and smaller mature individuals, despite the presence of young-of-the-year fish and the very large specimens captured by recreational fishermen.

While they have been present in NJ waters for quite some time, it was not until the last 5 years that they became a popular target for recreational fishermen. Anecdotally, this new fishing pressure has already started to take its toll, as fish on the more popular bridges have become more and more wary and difficult to catch. Since the species is currently unregulated by NJDEP, this rise in popularity has raised some concerns that these fish could be overfished again if proper precautions aren’t taken.