Some evidence of population structure, based on microsatellite markers, was found within NE Atlantic as well as within NW Atlantic but “homogeneity across the North Atlantic could not be evaluated” (McCusker and Bentzen, 2010). A unique biological stock is identified around Icelandic waters according to both Pampoulie et al. (2012) and Gunnarsson et al. (2013) with an assessment unit considered within (MRI, 2014). But the relation with the remaining distribution of the species in NE Atlantic is not totally understood (McCusker and Bentzen, 2010) nor assessment units are identified apart the Icelandic one.
In lack of a clear stock structure of Atlantic wolffish, assessment units are considered in the NW Atlantic: Scotian Shelf, Georges Bank and Bay of Fundy in Canadian waters (DFO, 2002) were the species has been identified as Special Concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC; DFO, 2012) and Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank (Keith and Nitschke, 2010; NOAA, 2015) in US waters where the species was identified as a species of concern in 2004 (NOAA, 2009).