Blue mackerel (Scomber australisicus) are a schooling pelagic species that occurs in tropical and temperate waters of the Pacific Ocean. They can be found to depths of 200 m over the continental shelf, although juveniles inhabit inshore waters and shallower waters. Fishing for blue mackerel in the Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF) has historically been focused off southeast NSW, eastern Tasmania and South Australia. Almost all small pelagic stocks are multijurisdictional (that is, managed by both the Australian and state governments) under Offshore Constitutional Settlement arrangements (AFMA (Australian Fisheries Management Authority) 2017). The fishery uses midwater trawl and purse seine gear, but purse seine catches have been negligible for the past several years.

The stock structure of blue mackerel is uncertain. Genetic analysis of samples from southern Queensland, Western Australia and New Zealand indicates population subdivision. Genetic differences have been detected between Western Australia and Queensland, and between Western Australia and New Zealand, but not between Queensland and New Zealand (Schmarr et al. 2007; Whittington et al. 2012). No finer-scale analyses of blue mackerel have been undertaken to further define stock structure. Blue mackerel within the SPF is assessed and managed as separate stocks in the eastern and western subareas (ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences 2017)). This profile focuses on the fishery in the eastern subarea.

The Commonwealth Small Pelagic Fishery (SPF) extends from southern Queensland to southern Western Australia. The fishery includes purse-seine and midwater trawl fishing vessels. Historically state vessels have accounted for the majority of the catch, but with the introduction of a new freezer vessel, the catch of blue mackerel by Commonwealth vessels increased in the 2015–16 fishing season, and the Commonwealth trawl fishery now accounts for the majority of the species harvest (AFMA (Australian Fisheries Management Authority) 2017). Catches in the state fisheries of New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania were small enough in 2016–2017 to not have been reported separately (rather, were lumped with other species as "other"), and Commonwealth purse seine catches were not reported and presumed negligible. For that reason, separate profiles for the state fisheries are not included in this profile, and a single gear, midwater trawls, is assessed in this profile.

This fishery entered full assessment by the Marine Stewardship Council system in September 2014, but withdrew in 2016.