EU request on inclusion of catch scenarios tables disaggregating total removals into commercial landings, recreational removals, and commercial discards for sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in divisions 8.a and 8.b (northern and central Bay of Biscay)

ICES presents catch scenario tables for sea bass in divisions 8.a and 8.b with the split between commercial landings and recreational removals based on bag limits in 2023 ranging from one to five fish, while another table applies a constant projected fishing mortality of the recreational fishery.

ICES notes that provision of any split in the catch scenarios table requires that the recreational fishing pressure can be anticipated. This is only possible if known management measures (e.g. bag limit) are available for the prediction year. Furthermore, the available data on recreational removals relies on only a few surveys, thus the calculation of Frec has some uncertainty as does the total F. This does not prevent a calculation of a split of removals, however, the result will include the uncertainty.