The large yellow croaker was a commercially important marine fish in the East China Sea between the 1950s and early-1980s. Catches from the sea declined by 99% within just 2 decades and there is no sign of stock recovery; this would categorize the croaker as ‘threatened’. Management measures and mariculture have been developed in China, and most individuals subsequently sold originated from hatcheries during the last decade. We integrate exploitation history to trace the collapse of the croaker and assess the role of mariculture and restocking in wild stock recovery. A combination of poor management, heavy exploitation of spawning and over-wintering aggregations, and pollution and habitat degradation were the major factors in stock decline. Although the croaker proved a highly successful mariculture candidate with approximately 70,000 mt produced in 2005, a quarter of all Chinese marine finfish culture, mariculture and restocking failed to adequately address the problems faced by wild croakers and resulted in biodiversity losses especially genetics. The detailed history of the croaker is a sobering reminder that successful mariculture is not necessarily a solution to overfishing, but a distinct means of seafood production that can compromise fishery recovery by competing for funds, attention and space.