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Profile updated on 4 February 2025

SUMMARY

SUMMARY

IDENTIFICATION

SCIENTIFIC NAME(s)

Scomber japonicus

SPECIES NAME(s)

Pacific chub mackerel, chub mackerel, macarela

Pacific chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus, has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution (Froese and Pauly 2019). In the Northeast Pacific, the distribution spreads from Southeastern Alaska to Mexico, including the Gulf of California (Crone et al. 2019). Initially, morphological characteristics determined that five stocks occurred: California and British Columbia, northern Baja California, central Baja California, the Cape San Lucas region, and the Gulf of California (Roedel 1952, in (Hernández et al. 2000)). Another study found only two stocks, from southern California to Vizcaíno Bay and the other for the entire Gulf of California, overlapping at Magdalena Bay (Gluyas-Millán and Quiñonez-Velázquez 1996)(Gluyas-Millán 2004). Three spawning aggregations exist: one in the Gulf of California and two in Baja California, one of which extends to Southern California and is exploited by the US and Mexico (Crone et al. 2019)

Therefore, this profile is structured around a biological population and a management unit (DOF 2019).


ANALYSIS

Strengths
  • The Pacific chub mackerel, together with other small pelagic species, is managed through a multispecific management plan (DOF 2012) that was last updated in 2023 (DOF 2023). In this document, several measures were described: temporal and spatial closures to protect the juvenile portion of the stock (DOF 2012)(DOF 2021)(DOF 2024), control the access to the fishery, and creation of committees to develop new tools for each of the stocks included in the fishery (DOF 2023).

SCORES

Management Quality:

Management Strategy:

≥ 6

Managers Compliance:

≥ 6

Fishers Compliance:

DATA DEFICIENT