(Abaunza et al. 2008) basing their findings on genetic, parasite, morphometric, otolith and life history trait analyses, identified four stocks in the NE Atlantic: North Sea, western and southern, and the Saharo-Mauritanian. Three Mediterranean sub-populations were considered to exist in the same study  - western, central and eastern - however, more information should be gathered to have robust conclusions and inter-mixing with the western Mediterranean sub-population and the southern stock may exist thus the Mediterranean sub-populations were not here considered. No assessment is known to be conducted under the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) due to the low economic value and irregular catches (GFCM and FAO 2016)(FAO and GFCM 2017) thus a management unit is assumed to cover the Spanish fishery operating in the Alboran and Balearic Seas.