In Asia, Indonesia, and islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans, wahoo are targeted in subsistence fisheries and sold in local markets.  They are a fishery staple for many Caribbean nations, and the most harvested species in Bermuda.  The speed, size, and predatory feeding habits of wahoo also make them a popular sport fish over much of their range.

Despite world-wide harvest, wahoo are classified as under-exploited throughout their range, and are currently listed as an incidental catch in the United States.  This listing may be related to the fact that on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States, large wahoo are usually encountered far offshore and rarely in schools, factors which make them more expensive to harvest than other commercial species.

However, as heavily targeted species such as tunas, mackerels, sharks, and billfishes continue to decline, a shift in fishing effort towards wahoo may cause its designation as an incidental catch and its status as under-exploited to change.

In December 2000, the possibility of such a shift in fishing effort prompted a request for emergency action for wahoo by the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, and New England Fishery Management Councils.  The review that followed led to the drafting of a management plan for wahoo by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC).  The plan was approved in January of 2004 and became fully effective in November 2004.  The plan limits the types of gear that can be used to catch wahoo, establishes recreational and commercial catch limits, prohibits the sale of recreationally caught wahoo, requires permits for vessels engaged in commercial wahoo harvest, and requires permits for dealers selling commercially harvested wahoo within the management area.