• Wild-caught whole round scad — Decapterus maruadsi (blue round scad), family Carangidae
• Vessel-frozen (sea-frozen on board) — frozen within hours of capture for superior freshness and shelf life vs shore-frozen
• Whole round form — head-on, gut-in, unprocessed
• Graded by count: 8–10 / 10–12 / 12–14 / 14–16 / 16–20 / 20–25 pcs/kg
• 10 kg block (BQF) or IQF, glazing by customer requirement
• High-protein, oily small pelagic; mild flavor, firm flesh
• Wild supply — MSC-applicable; ASC / BAP / GLOBALG.A.P. NOT applicable

• Direct cooking: fried, grilled, stewed, soup — a staple in Filipino and Vietnamese home and foodservice kitchens
• Ethnic grocery and retail (whole frozen fish)
• Bait for tuna longline / pole-and-line fisheries
• Aquaculture feed ingredient (fish-meal and wet-feed use)
• Further processing into canned or smoked product (HGT form available on request)

• MSC — applicable (round scad are wild-caught; confirm the specific fishery certificate for the batch)
• ASC / BAP / GLOBALG.A.P. — NOT applicable (these are aquaculture standards; round scad are not farmed)
• HACCP / BRC / IFS / ISO 22000 — food-safety management systems for processing
• HALAL / KOSHER — available on request
• FDA registration and EU approval available on request

• Store at −18 °C or below under an unbroken cold chain. Typical frozen shelf life 24 months for well-packed whole fish held continuously frozen. Because the fish are vessel-frozen at sea, initial freshness is high, but the −18 °C chain must stay unbroken after landing — temperature abuse at any point shortens shelf life and degrades texture. Keep frozen until use; thaw under refrigeration and cook thoroughly. Do not refreeze after thawing.

Q1. "Round scad" covers many species — how do I avoid substitution? A. "Round scad" and the regional common name are umbrella terms. The commercially dominant species is Decapterus maruadsi (blue round scad), but the same trade name is also applied to other scads — Decapterus macrosoma (slender/scaled sardinella scad), Decapterus lajang (Bengal/insular scad), Atule mate (sharpnose/whitelipped jack) — and in some localities even to ladyfish (Elops spp.). These differ in size, oil content and price. Fix the Latin name Decapterus maruadsi on the purchase order and packing list to prevent substitution, and confirm the species on the health certificate.

Q2. What does "vessel-frozen" (sea-frozen) mean, and why does it matter? A. Vessel-frozen (sea-frozen) means the fish are frozen on board the catching vessel within hours of capture, before any shore-side delay. Compared with shore-frozen product (which may sit in the hold for hours or days before processing), vessel-frozen scad retains better flesh quality, lower drip loss and a longer, more stable frozen shelf life. For a small oily pelagic like round scad, this freshness window is the single biggest driver of final eating quality — so specify "vessel-frozen / sea-frozen" explicitly if that is what you require.

Q3. Whole round or HGT — which form do I need? A. Whole round (this product) is unprocessed, head-on and gut-in: best for direct cooking (fried, grilled, stewed), ethnic retail, and bait/feed use. HGT (head-off, gutted, tail-off) is the form prepared for canning and further processing. Both use the same species. If your downstream is a cannery or smoker, request HGT instead of whole round.

Q4. What HS code applies to frozen round scad? A. HS 0303.59 — the "other fish of 0303.5" group, which explicitly lists round scad (Decapterus spp.) and jack/scad (Carangidae). The China 10-digit line is 0303590090 (also seen as 0303599000 in trade declarations). Do not use 0303.54 (that is mackerel, Scomber spp.) and do not use 0303.89 (a residual "other fish" line) — round scad is a named 0303.5 species and belongs in 0303.59. Declare the Latin genus on the customs paperwork. Fillets move to 0304.4x and prepared (breaded/canned) product to 1604.x / 1605.x.

Q5. What quality points (glazing, net weight, cold chain) must I specify? A. Three points buyers should pin down: (1) Glazing — agree the ice-glaze percentage (commonly 0–20%); glaze protects the fish but is not product weight. (2) Net weight — the declared weight is net product weight excluding glaze and carton; confirm the net-weight tolerance before production. (3) Cold chain — although vessel-freezing gives a strong start, the −18 °C chain must stay unbroken after landing; request cold-chain temperature logs and avoid any partial thaw/re-freeze, which damages flesh and shortens shelf life.