Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 May 2009
The bass Dicentrarchus labrax is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Morocco (30°N) to southern Norway (60°N) and in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (Whitehead et al., 1986). Throughout its range the bass is an important commercial species and in the waters around the British Isles it is exploited both by commercial fishermen and by sport anglers.
Since the early 1970s the recorded landings of bass have increased considerably (Pickett & Pawson, 1991). The increased exploitation and the conflict of interest between sport fishermen and commercial bass fishermen have been the subject of a multitude of articles in the fishing press calling for greater stock management. Detailed knowledge of the stock structure was required to provide advice on the management of the UK bass fishery (Pawson & Pickett, 1987).
Prior to 1980, tagging studies were conducted off the southern coast of Ireland (Kennedy & Fitzmaurice, 1972), the south-west of England (Holden & Williams, 1974) and in the Irish Sea (Kelley, 1979).