Japanese Sea Bass

Common Name(s)

English: Japanese Sea Perch ; French: Bar du Japon ; Spanish: Serránido japonés

Medium Risk

Stable, not optimal but not poor status. AND Actions identified to reduce environmental impact and/or improve management or stock status. May be data deficient with stable catches.

Traditional Chinese

花鱸 ("Far Low") 百花鱸 ("Bark Far Low")

Simplified Chinese

日本花鲈

Japanese

Suzuki

Vietnamese

Cá Vược Nhật

Date of Assessments

November 2020

Peer Reviewer

Not Yet Reviewed

Assessment Organisation

The University of Hong Kong

SEASONAL AVAILABILITY

Overview

Lateolabrax japonicus is a coastal perch species found in brackish and marine waters in the Western Pacific, from Japan to the South China Sea.
Found in moving water of inshore rocky reefs. Juveniles may ascend rivers and return to sea to spawn.
Protandrous, sex change happens after maturation. Males mature at age 2 years, becoming females when older.
Spawning occurs during winter, in deeper rocky reefs or inshore areas.
Feeds on zooplankton at an early age and on small fish and shrimps as adults.

According to the FAO, Japan accounts for the largest wild capture fishery for Lateolabrax japonicus, followed by Korea, and Taiwan, amounting to a total of 8,146 tonnes of global marine landings in 2017.

Purse seine

Purse seine nets are used as walls to encircle fish. After the fish are surrounded, the bottom end of the purse seine net is pulled up and closed to form a bag that traps the fish. Schooling fish such as sardine, salmon and yellowfin tuna are caught by this method. Can be unselective, particularly if used alongside Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), where sharks, rays, turtles, dolphins and juvenile tuna can be caught.

Evidence of the catch certificate showing the following:
- latin species name,
- country sea area / RFMO area,
- vessel flag,
- name of vessel,
- Unique Vessel Identifier,
- capture method,
- landing port
Is the fishery in a fishery improvement project?

COUNTRY SPECIFIC RISK ASSESSMENTS

Japan

Lateolabrax japonicus caught by fisheries in Japan can be considered to be a medium risk.
Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) declined over the period from 2012 to 2015.
Juveniles (<20 cm Total Length) regularly caught but usually released afterwards.
No official management schemes implemented, except fishers can only operate within the areas designated by their registering prefecture.
In the purse seine fishery over 40% of captures are non-targeted bycatch that has lower commercial value e.g. Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus), Dotted gizzard shad (Konosirus punctatus) and Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus).

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