According to Japan’s stock assessment, there is a single Japanese amberjack stock occurring in the waters around Japan and off the southern and eastern coasts of the Korean Peninsula, and Japanese scientists conduct assessments on this stock (JFA 2013). It is unclear whether the stock extends into China and Taiwan’s EEZs, because catch data and distribution information around China and Taiwan are lacking. 

Catch data used to inform the Japanese stock assessment do not distinguish among three amberjack species (S. quinqueradiata, S. dumerili, and S. lalandi), but the majority of Japan’s harvest is of Japanese amberjack (JFA 2013). There are wild capture fisheries for amberjack of all age classes, including a fishery that targets fry (called mojako) that are used for aquaculture. The focus of this profile is the fry fishery, but information from adult fisheries was also considered, especially for evaluation of stock status.