Oceanic, living in or pertaining to the deep or open sea.
I had thought at the time she had been referring to an officer on some survey vessel, the British Antarctic Survey's supply ship perhaps, or else a pelagic fisherman or whaler, even an Antarctic explorer.
The average New South Wales purse seine vessel that catches the same small pelagic fish is approximately 19 metres in length and takes an average of 99 tonnes of catch per year.
Ian MacDonald, NSWHansard, 2 September 2004. NSW Hansard
Pelagic landings are down slightly due to lower capelin landings and lower herring quotas.
The evidence disclosed that prior to 1890 the number of seals annually resorting to these islands was rapidly diminishing. This was attributed to the open sea or pelagic sealing, whereby the seals, especially the females, who were exempt from slaughter under the laws of the United States, were interrupted in their passage to the islands by the crews of foreign vessels, and were killed in great numbers while in the water.
Chief Justice Fuller, U.S. Supreme Court
North American Commercial Co. v. U S, 171 U.S. 110 (1898), 31 May 1898.
US Supreme Court
To catch and cook your own supper, to bang it on the head, then bang it on the barbecue, is a beautifully visceral thrill that can put a fizz in your blood whether you're five or 85. You can do it all around Britain - we're an island, remember. And these aren't inferior fish, these are top-drawer pelagic wanderers who live fast, die young and eat a constant diet of fresh live protein.
Nick Fisher, The Guardian, 19 May 2007. The Guardian