Download Our App

Sign Up for E-news
Seafood Watch
Home Seafood
Recommendations Seafood
Search Pocket
Guides Mobile
Guides Sushi Seafood &
Your Health Chart of
Alternatives

Seafood Search

A-N
O-Z

Octopus
Opah
Orange Roughy
Oysters
Pangasius
Perch
Plaice
Pollock
Pomfret
Pompano
Red Porgy
Rockfish
Sablefish
Salmon
Sanddabs
Sardine
Scad
Scallops
Scup
Sea Turtle
Sea Urchin
Seatrout
Shad
Shark
Shrimp
Skates
Smelt
Snapper
Sole
Spearfish
Squid
Striped Bass
Sturgeon
Swai
Swordfish
Tilapia
Tilefish
Totoaba
Trevally/Jack
Trout
Tuna, Albacore
Tuna, Bigeye
Tuna, Blackfin
Tuna, Bluefin
Tuna, Canned
Tuna, Skipjack
Tuna, Tongol
Tuna, Yellowfin
Wahoo
Walleye
Weakfish
White Seabass
Whitefish
Wreckfish
Yellowtail

A-N
O-Z

Seafood Watch - Seafood Guide

California Yellowtail

© Monterey Bay Aquarium
SEAFOODRATINGMARKET NAMESWHERE CAUGHTHOW CAUGHT
California Yellowtail Good Alternative: These are good alternatives to the best choices column. There are some concerns with how they are fished or farmed – or with the health of their habitats due to other human impacts. Amberjack, Hiramasa, Yellowtail Jack U.S. Wild-caught
Yellowtail Avoid: Avoid these products for now. These fish come from sources that are overfished or fished or farmed in ways that harm the environment. Yellowtail Kingfish, Goldstriped Amberjack, Hiramasa, Hamachi Australia Farmed
Yellowtail Avoid: Avoid these products for now. These fish come from sources that are overfished or fished or farmed in ways that harm the environment. Yellowtail, Japanese Amberjack, Buri, Hamachi Japan Farmed


California Yellowtail

California yellowtail is a "Good Alternative" due to moderate bycatch and management concerns and low levels of habitat damage.

Consumer Note

California yellowtail is known as hiramasa when prepared for sushi. There are many fish named yellowtail around the world and numerous market names. Be sure to ask where your yellowtail comes from.

Summary

California yellowtail is most commonly found along the Pacific coast between southern California and Baja California. A member of the jack family, it's prized as a game fish by recreational fishermen who catch nearly three times as many fish as the commercial fishery. California yellowtail begins to reproduce at a young age and produces large numbers of young, traits that help it withstand fishing pressure.

Most yellowtail is caught in drift gillnet and hook-and-line fisheries. Neither of these gears causes substantial habitat concerns, but drift gillnets catch large quantities of bycatch, including vulnerable species like marine mammals. Hook-and-line gear has low bycatch.

Yellowtail populations are believed to be healthy and robust, but the actual abundance is uncertain due to a lack of scientific involvement in the assessments. While management has been effective in maintaining the population, we need to better understand the impact of increased commercial catch in recent years.

Overall, steady population size, moderate habitat impacts and moderately effective management result in a "Good Alternative" recommendation for California yellowtail.

Scientific Reports About Our Ratings
Seafood Watch Card Print a pocket-size Seafood Watch guide to take with you.
Download a guide now
Mobile phone users log on to mobile.seafoodwatch.org.

iPhone® and iPod touch® users, you can get the most up-to-date Seafood Watch recommendations on your iPhone or iPod touch.

How fish are caught or farmed makes a difference.
Learn more
 Fishing boat