Gilt-head bream, for many the queen of the Adriatic Sea and marine fishing, has a special reputation among sea fishermen. It is considered a prized catch due to its delicious flesh. Gilt-head bream is a white marine fish from the Sparidae family, called Sparus aurata in Latin; due to its characteristic golden-yellow splash of colour above the eyes, some also call it “zlatobrov” (golden-brow). In various areas of the Croatian Adriatic coast and islands, gilt-head bream or orada is also locally known as komarča, podlanica, zlatica and similar.
It has a compact and narrow body. The gilt-head bream is blue-green on the back and grey-blue with darker horizontal stripes on the sides, with a black spot above the pectoral fin. The gilt-head bream has a head with a high curve and a large mouth. It has strong grinding teeth perfectly suited for cracking mussel shells, a favorite food, which means that the bream is often found close to larger mussel farms. If mussels are not readily available, the gilt-head sea bream feeds on crabs, large worms, shrimp, slugs, pilchards, small cuttlefish, squid or other prey.
The queen of the Adriatic lives in coastal waters up to 20 meters deep and retreats to depths up to 50 meters in the winter. It can also be found all across the Mediterranean, in the Black sea and coastal waters of the Atlantic ocean. It thrives best in quiet, clean bays with a rocky or sandy base, and also occasionally swims into river estuaries. As it is not overly sensitive to noise, it often inhabits busy ports and is not disturbed by ships, ferries or boats.
In nature, it grows up to 70 centimeters in length and can weigh up to 10 kg, however, its recommended fishing size is 0.6 kg or 30 cm. Gilt-head bream reaches sexual maturity in its second year. When males are three or four years of age, their sexual organs change from male to female, an interesting and unusual phenomenon. It is a hermaphroditic species. As soon as the male fish spawns for the first time, it starts to change into a female and remains female for the rest of its life. Thus, without exception, all large, older specimens of gilt-head bream are females.
As gilt-head bream thrives in different conditions, it is well-suited for farming, where it grows quickly and reaches a commercial weight between 0.25 and 0.3 kilograms in two years. Gilt-head bream is also extremely popular with sport fishermen. It is fished with hooks, longlines, nets and harpoons, as well as with an underwater rifle. The flesh of young gilt-head bream specimens is extremely delicious but can become somewhat bland in older and larger fish. Fish of the highest quality are those weighing up to 1 kg. Discerning diners prepare them in different ways, either baked in the oven, grilled, fried or steamed.
