International Journal of Marine Science, 2025, Vol.15, No.2, 75-91 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ijms 84 1990s, accounting for about 4% of the national marine fish fishing volume. According to statistics, the production of Chinese mackerel (mainly Japanese mackerel) in 2019 was about 35 000 tons, and about 36 000 tons in 2020. Production has fluctuated in recent years but remains high, ranking among the top in China's marine fishing (about fifth). The Spanish mackerel production in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia is also outstanding. Indonesian waters are rich in narrow-band Spanish mackerels and spot Spanish mackerels, which are one of the main target fishes of local offshore fishermen (Tarigan et al., 2019). On the Indian Ocean coast, fishery statistics from countries such as India, Iran, and Oman show that Spanish mackerel accounts for a large proportion of fish production along its coast. African coastal countries such as Nigeria and Ghana also have a certain scale of Spanish mackerel fishing. In the Western Hemisphere, the United States has a dedicated Spanish mackerel and king Spanish mackerel fishing industry in the southeastern Western Atlantic (Florida area), adopting a coexistence of commercial longline fishing and recreational fishing, with an average annual output of thousands of tons. Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and other countries also catch Spanish mackerel for domestic consumption. 7.1.2 The role of Spanish mackerel in coastal fisheries and small-scale fisheries Since most Spanish mackerels live on the nearshore and continental shelf, they have always been an important source of income for small coastal fishermen. Many fishermen in developing countries use small-scale sailboats, windsurfings, canoes, etc. to set up gill nets and fishing lines in the near sea to catch Spanish mackerels. This type of small-scale fishery is usually carried out seasonally. For example, when Japanese Spanish mackerels migrate to a certain place, local fishing villages collectively dispatched to round up, forming a tradition of "chasing Spanish mackerels" (Krismatama et al., 2020). In Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Malaysia and other places, Spanish mackerel (locally known as "mackerel") is also an important target species for fishermen along the coast to make at sunrise. The meat can be sold freshly or made into dried fish and fish sauce to meet local protein needs and generate income. Studies have shown that Spanish mackerels often account for a large proportion of the total catch value, which has a significant impact on livelihoods in fishing areas. Relatively speaking, industrialized large and medium-sized fisheries have a slightly lower dependence on Spanish mackerels, because Spanish mackerels swim quickly and are not easily caught in large quantities by trawls. They are more selectively fished through fixed nets, fences and longline fishing. For example, Taiwan mainly uses a combination of fixed flow nets and trolling for narrowband Spanish mackerels, and Spanish mackerel accounts for about 20% of the total fishermen's income. It can be seen that Spanish mackerel is not only a "granary fish" for small-scale coastal fisheries, but also an important supplement to medium-sized commercial fisheries, and plays an economic pillar role in fisheries of different scales (Chaves et al., 2021). 7.1.3 International trade and Spanish mackerel product export market The meat of fresh Spanish mackerel is tender, but it is not easy to transport long distances; therefore, it often appears in the form of frozen or processed products in international trade. For example, Southeast Asian countries freeze the excess Spanish mackerel to the East Asian market, and Japan imports some Indonesian narrowband Spanish mackerels every year to meet consumer demand. Spanish mackerel can also be processed into fish fillets, fish balls, fish pine and other products, and circulate in regional trade. China's domestic Spanish mackerel dumplings, Spanish mackerel balls and other foods are well-known. Processing plants need a large amount of frozen Spanish mackerel raw materials, and some of them are imported from Vietnam, India and other places to supplement. In addition, in the aquatic markets in Europe and the United States, frozen Spanish mackerels from Latin America or West Africa are occasionally sold to Europe to serve immigrant communities or specialty catering. Overall, the scale of international trade in Spanish mackerel is relatively limited, and most of the catch is used for intra-regional consumption. However, with the development of global cold chain logistics, the cross-regional circulation of Spanish mackerel products has a growing trend. For example, India has expanded its exports of Spanish mackerel to the Middle East in recent years, and Oman has also frozen exports of its rich Spanish mackerel to East Asia (Amani and Yawar, 2025). This means that Spanish mackerel resource management is no longer just a national affairs, but is gradually linked to international markets, and needs to consider the issues of fair use and sustainable trade under the framework of regional cooperation.
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