[Publication] Handbook of fish species exploited in the EU

Over 900 different species or groups of species are landed by fishing vessels registered in the EU, and around 100 are farmed in EU aquaculture facilities. [1] Some of these species have particular relevance to common fisheries policy developments for various reasons – their sheer commercial value, their conservation needs, their importance to local (coastal or inland) fisheries, or their impact as invasive species. This handbook provides an introduction to the main marine and freshwater species wild-caught and farmed in the EU. It is structured around two sections: the first one is dedicated to finfish, whereas the second one concerns shellfish (i.e. aquatic invertebrates, including mainly crustaceans and molluscs, as well as echinoderms and corals). Within each section, the species are organised in alphabetical order, based on the common English name. For each species, the handbook shows, at a glance, some key elements of fish biology and fisheries: the main biological features, whether the species is caught, farmed or both, the Member States involved and some major EU measures aimed at conserving them (i.e. allowable catch and minimum size). In particular, the handbook indicates:

• The scientific name of the species
• The FAO code (or 3-alpha identifier), a unique code of three letters that is used in fisheries statistics worldwide
• The translation of the common name in Danish (DK), German (DE), Spanish (ES), French (FR), Italian (IT), Dutch (NL), Portuguese (PT) and Swedish (SV)[2]
• The main characteristics of the species[3]:
  • Type of habitat: marine, freshwater, anadromous (living in marine waters and migrating into freshwater to spawn) or catadromous (living in freshwater and migrating into marine waters to spawn)
  • Location in the water column: pelagic (living in the water column), demersal (living close to the seabed), benthic (living on or under the seabed) or benthopelagic (living near the bottom as well as in midwaters or near the surface).
  • Other specific features: highly migratory (undertaking large-scale migration across the ocean) or deep sea (living in waters deeper than 200 meters)
  • Size: average length and maximum length
• The Member States that declared landings and/or aquaculture production of the species over the past decade (2013-2022) [4]
• The basic EU output-control conservation measures[5]:
  • The maximum catch limit, termed total allowable catch (TAC) The TACs define the fishing opportunities available to EU fishing vessels, with a view to ensuring that they do not catch too much fish. The TACs are fixed by the Council, in most cases annually, but for certain stocks located outside EU waters, they are established by the regional fisheries management organisations (RFMO) responsible for the area concerned (along with other conservation measures), and then transposed in EU law. The handbook indicates if a TAC applies to the species, for how many stocks and in what fishing areas (including whether the TAC is established by a specific RFMO).

• • The minimum conservation reference size (MCRS) The MCRS refers to the minimum size for a species to be harvested, and aims to avoid catching too small (juvenile) fish.

• More information is available through two links:
  • The link Species profile directs to the site of the European Commission-DG MARE, which provides further details on the species in question, such as the TACs by fish stock and the Member States quotas for each stock, or other commercial designations in various languages
  • The links Landings and Aquaculture production direct to the site of Eurostat, which provides the values declared by each Member State, by year

The handbook concludes with an index of common and scientific names.



  [1]        Eurostat 2022 data on landings of fishery products and production from aquaculture. [2]        A species is often identified by several different commercial designations in one language, not to mention the innumerable regional and local names. In this handbook, the species names in different languages are based on the respective language versions of EU law, in particular the most recent TACs and Quotas Regulations 2024/257 and 2024/259, the Catch Statistics Regulations 218/2009, and 216/2009, and Commission Delegated Decision 2021/1167 on fisheries data collection. [3]        Based on information from Louisy P. (2015), FishBase, and SealifeBase. [4]        Based on Eurostat data on landings of fishery products and on production from aquaculture. [5]        Based on information from DG MARE – Commercial designations of fishery and aquaculture products, the TACs and Quotas Regulations, in particular 2024/257, 2024/259, and 2023/2638, and the Technical Measurs Regulation 2019/1241.