Scup, or porgy as they are locally known along the eastern seaboard, make excellent table fare. Due to their importance and popularity as a food fish, they were overfished and Scup are much less common today than they were years ago. They are still a relatively common catch in late summer and fall around wrecks and other bottom structure.

Scup have fairly small mouths, and most anglers who are not specifically targetting them use hooks too large in size to be effective.