SPECIES DESCRIPTION

The seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a primarily ocean-going fish that sometimes enters brackish and fresh waters. It is also known as the sea dace. Highly regarded as a table fish, it is often marketed as Mediterranean seabass, loup de mer, robalo, lubina, spigola, branzino, or bronzino. Annual catches of wild European seabass are relatively modest, having fluctuated between 8,500 and 11,900 tonnes in 2000–2009. Most of the reported catches originate from the Atlantic Ocean, with France typically reporting the highest catches. In the Mediterranean, Italy used to report the largest catches, but has been surpassed by Egypt in recent years.

The fish has come under increasing pressure from commercial fishing and has recently become the focus in the United Kingdom of a conservation effort by recreational anglers.The Republic of Ireland has strict laws regarding bass. All commercial fishing for the species is banned and several restrictions are in place for recreational anglers, a closed season May 15 – June 15 inclusive every year, a minimum size of 400 mm, and a bag limit of two fish per day. In a scientific advice (June 2013), it is stressed that fishing mortality is increasing. The total biomass has been declining since 2005. Total biomass, assumed as the best stock size indicator in the last two years (2011–2012), was 32% lower than the total biomass in the three previous years (2008–2010). European seabass was one of the first types of fish to be farmed commercially in Europe. They were historically cultured in coastal lagoons and tidal reservoirs, before mass-production techniques were developed starting in the late 1960s. It is the most important commercial fish widely cultured in the Mediterranean. The most important farming countries are Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Croatia, and Egypt. Annual production was more than 120,000 tonnes in 2010.