Fishery: Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group Ltd (SPSG) North Sea Herring (Clupea harengus)
Status:
The certification body, Food Certification International Ltd. (FCI), has announced that the draft assessment report for the SPSG North Sea Herring fishery is now available for comment for a period of 30 days.
Any stakeholder wishing to comment on the report is invited to contact FCI (details below) no later than 5 pm GMT 11 June 2008.
Stakeholders are advised that they are to provide objective evidence in support of any additional claims or any claimed errors of fact in their response to the Public Comment Draft Report. ANy comments made by stakeholders shall be documented and forwarded by the certification body to its certification decision making entity.
Please refer to the downloads section for further information.
Last updated: 12 May 2008
Location:
The North Sea herring stock extends from the Norwegian coast into the North Sea and through to the eastern Channel, and comprises three main sub-stocks. The Scottish fleet mainly exploits the Buchan sub-stock of herring, located in the central and north North Sea – all within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the EU and Norway.
Fishing Method: Mid-water
Trawl.
Management:
The northern North Sea fishery is managed as part of the North Sea herring stock extending across areas IIa, IV and VIId. This stock is managed according to the EU-Norway Agreement (December 1997) that is implemented in EU member states and Norway under National management systems, advised by ICES.
The 2007 UK quota (IVa & b only) of the Total Allowable Catch has been set at 50,279 tonnes – i.e. almost 15 per cent of the Total Allowable Catch.
Main commercial market:
The North Sea herring fishery is used for human consumption both domestically and for export. The fishery is not used for industrial purposes for reduction to fishmeal. Much of the North Sea Herring which is landed is processed locally before being frozen for export to significant markets in Eastern Europe, Russia and former Soviet republics and West Africa. Some vessels also land into Denmark although the proportion of landings into overseas ports is small.
Assessment details:
The assessment started in May 2007.
Client:
The client for this certification is the Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group Ltd (SPSG), a grouping of all Scottish pelagic producers, Producer Organisations and trade associations, and the main pelagic processors.
Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group Ltd
1 Firthside Street
Fraserburgh
Aberdeenshire
AB43 9AR
Contact: Derek Duthie, Company Secretary
Tel: (01346)510714
Fax: (01346)510614
Email: spfa@btconnect.com
Certification Body:
Food Certification International Ltd
Findhorn House
Dochfour Business Centre
Dochgarroch
Inverness
Scotland IV3 8GY
Contact: Martin Gill, Executive Director or Melissa McFadden Tel: +44(0)870 286 2860
Fax: +44(0)870 286 2861
E-mail: martin.gill@foodcertificationscotland.com or
melissa.mcfadden@foodcertificationscotland.com
