The relationships among long-term variation in catches of Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus niphonius) and main food organism such as common mackerel (Scomber japonicus), anchovy (Engraulis japonicus), and oceanic condition in Korean waters were analyzed using 40 years of time-series data from 1971－2010. In the 1990s, oceanic conditions around the Korean peninsula shifted to a warmer regime with higher SST (sea surface temperature). The total catch of Spanish mackerel in Korean waters increased dramatically since the early 2000s, and main fishing ground form into South Sea in winter season from December to January. From the results of correlation analysis, we found a significant relationship between the Spanish mackerel catch and environmental factor such as SST, common mackerel and anchovy catch in Korean waters.

The population variation of Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus niphonius) according to its major prey abundance was analyzed using monthly catches of coastal set net fisheries in the southern waters off Gyeongsangnam-do and eastern waters off Gyeongsangbuk-do of Korea from 2006 to 2019. The abundance of Spanish mackerel and its prey species fluctuated almost simultaneously with time lags of +2 to -2 months between the set net fisheries in the southern and eastern waters. The generalized additive model revealed that the abundance of Spanish mackerel was influenced by its prey species such as hairtail and anchovy in southern waters, and common mackerel and horse mackerel in eastern waters. The model deviance explained 49% and 42% of Spanish mackerel abundance in southern and eastern waters respectively. These results suggest that the abundance of Spanish mackerel is affected by seasonal migratory prey fish species in the coastal areas and can be linked to their northerly migration.

This study histologically describes the intersexuality of Scomberomorus niphonius collected from the coastal area near Jeju Island. A total of 126 S. niphonius, collected from March to July 2012 with a total length of 62.4 cm (±17.5) and a total weight of 1,701.9 g (±1,528.9) were used for analyses. From a histological perspective, two types of intersex were confirmed. One type had scattered germ cells from the opposite sex within the gonad. The second type developed germ cells from the opposite sex in the connective tissue of the outer gonadal membrane. The intersexuality was 14.3% (n=18/126), with females (21.3%; n=16/75) exhibiting a higher rate than males (3.9%; n=2/51). There was no displayed correlation between intersexuality and the total length and weight.