The offshore water of southern Zhejiang is an important breeding and fattening ground for small yellow croaker . In this study, based on bottom trawl surveys, 2023 samples of small yellow croaker with a body length of 3.0-21.5 cm were collected in February, May, August, and November 2016 in the offshore water of southern Zhejiang. Based on the length and weight data of these samples, the dominant body length was 11.0-15.0 cm, accounting for 69.9% of samples, and the dominant weight was 20.0-50.0 g, accounting for 68.26% of samples. The age ranged from 0 to 4⁺ years. Based on 2019 sample data, the length-weight relationship was fitted by a power function, which could be described as was 2.8635, meaning that presented a negative allometric growth pattern. The Von Bertalanffy growth parameters were estimated using FiSAT Ⅱ electronic length frequency analysis I. The asymptotic length a) was estimated as -0.37 a. The growth coefficient was 0.78 per year, indicating the fast growth rate of this small demersal species in the offshore water of southern Zhejiang. The total mortality coefficient was calculated using a length-converted catch curve as 4.432, and the natural mortality coefficient was estimated as 1.343 by the Pauly empirical formula. Therefore, fishing mortality coefficient equaled 0.697, demonstrating that the stock was subjected to overfishing. The catch curve also determined that the current first capture was 13.11 cm, corresponding to an age of 0.743, which was lower than both the critical age (0.886) and the turning point age (0.931); this indicates that the main fishing objectives were juvenile and included the recruitment group of small yellow croaker. The Beverton-Holt (B-H) model was used to evaluate the yield per recruitment for . Based on the dynamic B-H model, the current yield per recruitment (YPR) value was 15.279 g/ind. If ), the corresponding YPR was 17.061 g/ind, with an increase of 11.66% over the current YPR. When was increased from 13.11 cm to 17 cm, the estimates for YPR_max would increase from 15.279 g/ind to 18.766 g/ind, an increase of 22.82% over the current YPR. Thus, it would be better to increase . In conclusion, these data indicate that the current stock of is over-exploited; hence, to protect the spawning stock and maintain the population in a sustainable manner, we suggest increasing the length of the first capture to 15 cm, which will satisfy full growth and correspond to the optimal yield area of under the present fishing pressure.