Populations and migratory routines of the white croacker, Argyrosomus argentatus, in the north China waters, including the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, were re-analyzed with fishing data collected during 19711982. Two populations, i.e. the Yellow Sea-Bohai Sea population (YSBSP) and the Yellow Sea-the East China Sea (ECS) population (YSESP), were identified in the investigation area. Peak yield of YSBSP occurred in October and November during which the fish school was located in the mid Bohai Sea and the southern waters off the Shandong Peninsula in the Yellow Sea. The fish school of YSESP occurred greatly from June to August in waters off Changjiang Estuary where their feeding grounds were located. The wintering grounds of two populations did not overlap each other. The distinct geographic distribution patterns suggest that the two populations are different in thermal adaptation. The YSBSP is of characters of temperate warm water species while the YSESP is more likely to be warm water species. Moreover, the directions of their spawning migration were different as well. The YSBSP migrated towards northwest while the YSESP towards southwest. The YSBSP overwintered in north waters of 34°00′N in the mid Yellow Sea. Afterwards they migrated into the coastal waters of the Bohai Gulfs, the Yalv Estuary, the Shandong Peninsula and the Haizhou Gulf for spawning in March and April. After spawning, they grew up in the waters nearby spawning ground from May to September, and aggregated in October to November to migrate towards the wintering ground, and arrived there in January. For the YSESP, offshore waters of the East China Sea as well as nearshore waters in the mid-southern East China Sea were two major overwintering grounds. The offshore group began spawning migration during March and April towards west Zhoushan Fishing Ground, in which they merged with the fishes came from the the nearshore group, and continued to migrate northward into the waters of Zhoushan and the Changjiang Estuary for spawning in May. After spawning, the fishes moved north to nearshore waters of the south Yellow Sea and grew up there from May to September. With influence of cold northwest monsoon after October, the population returned to the Changjiang Estuary. From there, fishes split into two major groups, one migrated eastward back to wintering ground in offshore waters, another moved back to the wintering ground in nearshore waters in the mid-southern East China Sea. In addition, part of nearshore group never migrated into the Yellow Sea, and grew up in waters nearby the spawning ground.