The species of hake, making up the genus Merluccius, are commercially important and currently largely over exploited, with many stocks badly depleted and showing only limited signs of recovery.

From the end of the 1990s, concepts such as sustainability, ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management, a code for the responsible conduct for fisheries, governance and others have emerged or have been considered by politicians, stakeholders and society. Moreover, new tools for stock assessment have been developed. But many hake stocks of the genus Merluccius show no sign of...