Slickheads, classified under the family Alepocephalidae, are deep-sea fish known for their scaleless, slippery heads and elongated bodies, typically inhabiting depths between 500 and 3,000 meters. While not widely targeted due to their deepwater habitat and limited commercial value, slickheads are occasionally caught as bycatch in deep-sea trawl fisheries. The term "Not Elsewhere Included" (NEI) refers to catches that are not specified by individual species but are grouped together for reporting purposes. The top countries involved in the harvest of NEI slickheads are primarily those with significant deep-sea fishing fleets, such as Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, and Japan. These nations often operate in the North Atlantic and Southwest Pacific, where slickheads are incidentally caught alongside more valuable species like grenadiers and orange roughy. While the global slickhead fishery remains relatively small, catches are monitored due to concerns about the vulnerability of deep-sea ecosystems and the slow reproductive rates of these fish.
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Data from FAO. 2025. Global Capture Production. In: Fisheries and Aquaculture.