Wild sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) has long been a superstar species for high-end chefs plying their skills in northern Europe, but a new stock survey suggests professional kitchens may soon have to seek out alternatives for their menus.
The largest targeted sea bass fishery takes place between November and April in the western English Channel and Bay of Biscay, where mainly French but also Scottish and Danish trawlers target the fish shoaling offshore prior to spawning.
Unfortunately, the latest assessment by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has found the spawning stock of this slow-to-mature fish has fallen by 32 percent since 2009. It also states that the total biomass has been on a downward trend since 2005.
ICES therefore recommended a cut of 1,353 metric tons (MT), or 36 percent, in catches across the English Channel, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea and southern North Sea next year. This would drastically reduce the landings in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark and supplies to their respective markets.
If applied, the total European catch would be no more than 2,707 MT, down from 4,060 MT of fish landed in 2012. However, the fishing industry and other stakeholders are unclear how this limit would be implemented as currently commercial bass fishing is managed nationally and by EU-agreed technical measures, such as setting minimum landing sizes as opposed to cutting international quotas.
In the United Kingdom, the government’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs put forward a package of technical measures for discussion in Brussels to tackle the problem in the short-term, with other EU member states also contributing their own recommendations to apply in 2014.
In the longer term, Brussels is expected to develop a strategic management plan.
In addition to internationally agreed bass quotas, other Europe-wide measures that have been proposed to conserve stocks include larger net mesh sizes, an increase in minimum landing size (up from the European Commission’s current minimum of 36 centimeters), the closure of certain areas during the spring months to protect spawning alongside limits placed on the allowable monthly catch per vessel for the rest of the year.
Chefs would have to adapt to any catch reductions and the increased prices that would certainly ensue, confirms one U.K.-based supplier. They will want to keep bass on the menu if they can “to keep their customers happy,” the supplier said, adding that there is “always a tipping point” with regard to market price and fulfilling customer expectations of a menu, as seen recently with shrimp and Jamie Oliver.
The celebrity chef has removed shrimp from the menu at his large Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain because they had become too expensive as a result of the production and disease problems affecting many production areas across Asia.
As a result of stock-overexploitation concerns, the Marine Conservation Society gave wild sea bass a rating of 5 (red), which classifies it as a fish to avoid.
