Synopsis of Biological Data on the Chub Mackerel (Scomber Japonicus Houttuyn, 1782)

Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus) is a pelagic species which inhabits warm and temperate coastal waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The species is of great importance for fisheries worldwide; in 1978, it ranked third in importance in catches by species (3.4 million tonnes), while in 1979 and 1980 it ranked fourth and fifth, with 2.8 and 2.6 million tonnes, respectively. In 1966, the species ranked fifth with a worldwide catch of 2.1 million tonnes. It is mainly caught with purse seines, sometimes using light, and also by trolling, lines, gillnets, traps, beach seines and midwater trawls.