Acoustic target strength (TS) measurement and theoretical acoustic scattering models were applied to estimate the TS for assessing the fish biomass. TS measurement was made of ex situ sailfin sandfish Arctoscopus japonicus at 70 and 120 kHz, and then compared to backscatter model prediction. The live sandfish was tethered in seawater using monofilament lines. Measurements were made versus incidence angle, ?50° to 50° relative to dorsal aspect directions. Distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) model was used to calculated TS pattern. The TS values of sandfish (body length: 16.2 cm) at 70 and 120 kHz were ?66.94 dB and ?64.45 dB, respectively, and were about 20 dB lower than TS of other fishes in Korea waters. These TS levels were distributed within the range of the theoretical TS. Ex situ measurement and theoretical TS may be applied to improve acoustical detection and biomass estimation of the sandfish, and is necessary to measure with various lengths.