It is still unclear if there is continuity between the Gulf of Mexico and the US Atlantic coast distribution of the species (Zatcoff et al. 2004).  A Stock ID Workshop for scamp was undertaken in 2019 and the final report recommended that two stock assessments should be conducted, separated by the default boundary between the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic waters (SEDAR 2020). This report also recommends that this species should be assessed jointly with Yellowmouth Grouper, with the two species treated as a single complex, due to the difficulty of distinguishing these two species. This profile refers to the Scamp Northern Gulf of Mexico assessment.