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Fish4Life provides everything you need to enjoy seafood responsibly. Explore information and practical tips for safe and sustainable seafood consumption, and help protect marine life by reporting undersized or illegally traded seafood.

European Hake
Merluccius merluccius
Μπακαλιάρος

Sustainability Status

Highly exploited

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Help us protect our seas by reporting illegal or undersized fish that you see in markets, restaurants or fishing boats
Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation
Bad choice –Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Legal

Minimum Size

20 cm

Prohibited Consumption Period

–

Sustainable

Minimum Size

27 cm

Avoid Consumption Period

Year round

Advice for Consumption

Heavily overexploited, therefore its consumption is considered unsustainable.

If you choose to consume this species, always respect the recommended minimum sustainable size and do not consume individuals caught during the reproductive season.

Greek legislation sets an unsustainably small legal minimum size and no closed season, leaving juvenile and spawning fish completely unprotected.

Archipelagos Tips

If you choose to consume this species, select larger-sized fish. This species is caught by both industrial trawl fisheries and small-scale fishers.

Avoid fish caught by trawlers and prefer fish from small-scale fisheries, which are generally more selective and more likely to catch larger, mature individuals. In Greece, trawling is prohibited from June to September.

During this period, this species available on the market is caught exclusively by small-scale (artisanal).

Common names

FR

Merlu

it

Merluzzo

es

Merluza

tr

Bakalyora

pt

Pescada

nl

Europese heek

de

Europäischer Seehecht

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Vulnerable (VU)

Description

Elongated body with a large head and mouth. Second dorsal and anal fins notched. Its coloring is blue-grey on the back, silvery on the sides, and whitish on the underside. It has a straight lateral line and a large mouth with two rows of teeth in the lower jaw and one in the upper jaw.

It looks like Merluccius capensis (Shallow-water cape hake), Merluccius paradoxus (Deep-water cape hake), and Merluccius gayi (South Pacific hake): All four species are known for their long, lean bodies, which are typical of hake.

Did you know?

European hake undergo vertical migration each night, moving to shallow waters to feed!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Carnivorous.
Adults feed on fish and squids, juveniles feed on crustaceans.

habitat

Demersal.
Moves off the sea floor at night to hunt.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 140 cm
Max weight: 15 kg
Depth range: 18-1075 m

breeding & Growth

Gonochoric (seperate sexes), batch spawners capable of reproducing throughout the year.
Growth rate: Slow (k = 0.120yr⁻¹).

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 10-20 years
Max reported age: 20 years
Distribution: Mediterranean Sea, Eastern Atlantic and along the south coast of the Black Sea.

appearance changes

Significant appearance changes throughout its lifecycle, moving from an elongated, spotted larval form to a sleek, silvery-gray adult. Once caught, the fish spoils rapidly, displaying clear visual signs of degradation within 7 days on ice.

Reproductive Cycle

Indeterminate fecundity (egg production is not fixed before spawning occurs).
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Good choice – Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable

Illegal species – Fishing, selling and consumption of this species is illegal

Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation

Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Bad choice – Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Health concerns –
Can accumulate dangerously high levels of toxic substances harmful to health

Alien / Invasive – This species is not from this region and can have a negative impact on the ecosystem and threaten local biodiversity, so it is sustainable to eat

Aquafarms – You will commonly find this species coming from aquafarms