Bay of Biscay - Key Species
Anchovy
Anchovy is a small pelagic fish that used to be abundant in the Bay of Biscay. Currently the fishery is closed because stock biomass is very low after several very low recruitments since 2005.
Sardine
Sardine is a small pelagic fish, exploited in the Bay of Biscay for centuries.
Monkfish
There are two species of monkfish in the Bay of Biscay. The distributions of these species in the northeast Atlantic, Lophius piscatorius and Lophius budegassa partly overlap, but the former is generally found in more northern and deeper waters. L. piscatorius reaches a larger size and lives longer than L. budegassa, but matures younger. The two species are often caught together in mixed fisheries, mainly by trawlers and gill-netters. These stocks are currently exploited sustainably.
Sea bass
Sea bass is a semi-pelagic fish with a high market value. Pressure on this resource recently increased owing to closure of the anchovy fishery. This stock is not regularly assessed.
Squid
Two squid species and three species of cuttlefish are exploited in the Bay of Biscay. All these stocks are currently increasing in abundance, but no stock assessments are available.
Nephrops
On the Great Mud Bank in the Bay of Biscay, there is a valuable Nephrops fishery which is mainly exploited by French trawlers. This stock is currently considered to be exploited within safe biological limits.
Sole
Sole is the major commercially important stock in the Bay of Biscay, and currently harvested unsustainably.
Hake
In the Bay of Biscay there is a large hake fishery exploited by many fleets from several countries using various gears. The Northern stock of hake has a very wide distribution from the Bay of Biscay to Norwegian waters, and the Bay of Biscay is one of its major nurseries. This stock currently undergoes a rebuilding plan, which effects are starting to be detectable.