The Western Baltic spring-spawning herring fishery targeted by vessels of the “Erzeugergemeinschaft der Hochsee- und Kutterfischer” has entered the full assessment under the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) [1] standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries. The fishery catches about 4,000 tonnes of Baltic herring per year, which is sold marinated mostly to Germany and other EU countries. If successful, products from the fishery will join an increasing range of northern European fish products eligible to carry the MSC eco-label.

Germany is the largest market for MSC eco-labelled fish with seafood valued at approximately 196 million Euro - just over a quarter of the global value of MSC eco-labelled products. The application for assessment is a joint project by the fishery and their client, “Euro-Baltic Fischverarbeitungs GmbH” on the island of Rügen.

Uwe Richter, Chief Executive of German processor Euro-Baltic, comments: “People increasingly want proof that your fish has been caught in a responsible and environmentally sound manner. MSC is a good tool to respond to this demand and so Euro-Baltic and Kutterfisch, our partner in the catching business, decided to apply for assessment to the MSC standard. Kutterfisch catches the herring along the coast of Rügen. The fish is then unloaded right here in Mukran und processed in an MSC-certified facility nearby, meaning that the fish doesn’t have to travel very far before it gets to people in the marketplace.”

Marnie Bammert, MSC’s Country Manager for Germany, says: “Germans love their herring and the MSC label on fish from domestic waters would give people a truly sustainable choice - locally caught and processed herring from a well-managed fishery. I am very hopeful that the application will be successful and that consumers will soon be able to buy MSC-labelled Baltic herring.”

ENDS

Further information:
Marnie Bammert, MSC, +49 (30) 8849 7008 or +49 176 8011 7900, email marnie.bammert@msc.org.

Notes to Editors:
 [1] Marine Stewardship Council: The MSC is an international non-profit organization that was set up in 1997 to promote solutions to the problem of overfishing. The MSC runs the only widely recognized environmental certification and eco-labelling program for wild capture fisheries. It is the only seafood eco-label that is consistent with the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards and UN FAO guidelines for fisheries certification. The FAO “Guidelines for the Eco-labelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine Capture Fisheries” require that credible fishery certification and eco-labelling schemes include:
- Objective, third-party fishery assessment utilizing scientific evidence;
- Transparent processes with built-in stakeholder consultation and objection procedures;
- Standards based on the sustainability of target species, ecosystems and management practices. The MSC has offices in London, Seattle, Tokyo, Sydney, The Hague, Edinburgh and Berlin. In total, more than 120 fisheries are engaged in the MSC program with 34 certified, 78 under assessment and another 20 to 30 in confidential pre-assessment.  Together the fisheries record annual catches of more than 5 million tons of seafood.  Of fish for human consumption, they represent more than 42 percent of the world’s wild salmon catch, more than 40 percent of the world’s prime whitefish catch and 18 percent of the world’s lobster catch.  Worldwide, more than 1,600 seafood products resulting from the certified fisheries bear the blue MSC eco-label. For more information, please visit www.msc.org.