This brief review of the coastal and high-seas resources of pelagic fishes in the western Pacific is intended as background material in planning for a symposium to be held in 1972 during the 15th Session of the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council, and was prepared at the request of the 13th IPFC Session. The area covered in this report includes Japan and Korea in the north and New Zealand, Australia, and the coastal waters of the Indonesian Archipelago in the south. The general features of the fisheries and the hydrography in the western Pacific are discussed. A more detailed review is made of the more important pelagic fishes which include the categories (1) jacks, mullets, etc., (2) herrings, sardines, anchovies, etc., (3) tunas, bonitos, and skipjacks, and (4) mackerels, billfishes, cutlassfishes, etc.