Atka Mackerel

About this species

A striped greenling relative of cold northern Korean and Japanese seas, popular grilled for its rich, oily flesh. It schools over rocky and mixed bottoms, feeding on plankton and small crustaceans. Sabiki rigs and baited bottom rigs take them where cold northern schools gather.

Season

Depth

10 – 200 m

Habitat Spots

Fishing Methods

Bait & Rig

Sabiki rigs, baited hooks with sandworm or squid, or small jigs worked over rocky and mixed bottoms where winter schools gather.

Edibility & Taste

Excellent; the oily, rich flesh is best open-fire grilled as shioyaki; extremely popular in Japanese izakaya and Korean home kitchens.

Similar Species

Fat greenling (쥐노래미/アイナメ) is closely related and shares multiple lateral lines but lives in shallower inshore water and grows more bulkily; Atka mackerel has a more streamlined body.

Record Weight

2.5 kg