The MSC-certified pikeperch fisheries are located at picturesque Lake Hjälmaren in South Sweden. The fishers put up gill nets during the ice season and catch pikeperch with traps during the rest of the year – hence it is counted as 2 fisheries. 

In August 2006, the Lake Hjälmaren pikeperch fisheries became the first freshwater and first Swedish fisheries to be certified as sustainable.

Pikeperch, also known as zander, are pelagic fish inhabiting fresh water reservoirs, lakes and rivers. They thrive in rather low visibility and are very active at night. They are fast predators and grow relatively quickly. They may reach 20 kilograms in size, typical catches, however, are considerably smaller. The flesh of this fish is white, juicy and tender and contains little fat.

"Sweden has more than 100,000 lakes and most of its people live close to some kind of water. Fishing has always been an integral part of Swedish society. To make sure it stays this way the fishers at Lake Hjälmaren have opted for MSC certification. Their understanding and consideration of the lake's ecosystem has now been rewarded and they hope that this recognition will open new markets in Europe."

Inger Näslund
Marine and Fisheries Conservation Officer, WWF Sweden

The fishery scored as follows in assessment against the MSC standard for sustainable fishing. The highest possible score for each principle is 100 and a fishery must score at least 80 against each principle to get certified:

Sustainability strengths

Some of the points on which the fishery scored over 90 are outlined below.

Principle 1: the state of the fish stock

• The species, its life history, geographic range and stock is well understood by fishers and regulators. This makes monitoring easy and management effective.  Fishing related mortality is also well recorded. Discards and incidental mortality is very low because there is a swift sorting procedure and released fish easily survive.
• Fishing methods and fishing related effects are well understood and documented. Mechanisms to reduce harvest (removal of licences, complete closure of fisheries etc.) are also well established.

Principle 2: the impact of the fishery on the marine environment

• The ecology of the lake is well understood and the fishery does not have any adverse impacts on the habitat. No protected species are affected by the fishery. Any incidental catches in the traps are released quickly and the survival rate is very high.

Principle 3: the fishery management systems

• Organisations with management responsibilities are clearly defined – Swedish National Board of Fisheries is responsible for management advice and issuing licences and county boards are responsible for enforcement.
• The management system follows all national and international regulations and recognises the customary rights of the people dependent upon fishing.
• The system has no subsidies that contribute to unsustainable fishing or ecosystem degradation.
• The fishers are well informed and trained about the aims and methods of the management system and there is a high degree of control and compliance. Fishers are also very active and cooperative in collecting data.

Challenges

In order to ensure its continuing sustainable operation this fishery made a commitment to improving its performance where it scored between 60-80. Some of the actions the fishery has committed to are: 

• There is regular analysis of stock status relative to historical information which allows forecasts to be made for the stock and management actions to be taken. However, there are no formalised reference/action points or a documented, agreed, action plan (decision rules) to be put in place as and when stock levels reach such reference levels. This could be problematic if additional licensed gears were used increasing total effort.
• Age structure of pikeperch is well established but there is no monitoring of sex structure in catches or of size at age. Sex composition and size (both weight and length) at age is useful to determine shifts in population structure that could affect reproductive capacity. Size at age is also a good indicator of changes in feeding conditions (ecosystem conditions).
• There is some incidental catch of fish-eating birds in fish-traps. Numbers of birds caught needs to be recorded and evaluated by relevant organisations in terms of its significance for affected populations. If significant, appropriate mitigation measured should be put in place.

The fishery: Unit of certification

The certified Lake Hjälmaren pikeperch gill-net fishery is defined as:

Surveillance audits: First certification period 2006-2011

Surveillance 4: Completed December 2010

Surveillance report No.4 - 15 December 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Annual surveillance audit - 31st May 2011

Variation response: Surveillance audit and reassessment - 24th March 2011

Variation request: Surveillance audit and reassessment - 24th March 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Surveillance audit cancellation - 7th May 2010

Stakeholder Notification: Annual surveillance audit - 2nd February 2009

Surveillance 3: Commenced July 2009

Surveillance No.3 - 2nd October 2009

Stakeholder Notification: Annual surveillance audit - 17th July 2009

Surveillance 2: Completed October 2008

Surveillance No.2 - 18th November 2008

Stakeholder notification: Surveillance No.2 - 29 July 2008

Surveillance 1: Completed February 2008

Surveillance No. 1 

Stakeholder Notification: Surveillance No. 1 - 8 July 2007

Initial assessment: Certified August 2006

Certificates: Compliance with the MSC Principles and Criteria for Sustainable fishing

Certificate of compliance MML-FC-013 - 7 August 2006 - 25 August 2012

Certificate of compliance MML-FC-012 - 7 August 2006 - 25 August 2012

Stage 7: Objections procedure/public certification report and certificate issue

No objections were received

Public certification report - 7 August 2006

Stage 6: Final report and determination

Final report and determination - 2 July 2006

Stakeholder Notification: Final report and determination - 3 July 2006

Stage 5: Public review of the draft assessment report

Public comment draft report - 15 March 2006

Stakeholder Notification: Public comment draft report released - 15 March 2006

Stage 4: Client and peer review

Stakeholder Notification: Peer reviewers confirmed - 23 January 2006

Stakeholder Notification: Peer reviewers proposed - 9 December 2005

Stage 3: Information gathering, stakeholder meetings and scoring

Stakeholder Notification: Site visits scheduled - 8 June 2005

Stage 2: Building the assessment tree

Final assessment tree - 21 June 2005

Draft assessment tree - 18 May 2005

Stakeholder Notification: Draft assessment tree released for comment - 18 May 2005

Stage 1: Fishery announcement and assessment team formation

Stakeholder Notification: Assessment team announced - 25 February 2005

Stakeholder Notification: Assessment team nominated - January 2005

Stakeholder Notification: Fishery enters full assessment - January 2005

Current status

The certification body, Intertek Moody Marine, has proposed 2 peer reviewers for the review of the Draft Lake Hjalmaren pikeperch fishery Assessment Report.

If you wish to provide feedback on the proposed peer reviewers, please contact Seran Davies no later than  5pm GMT, 9 January 2012.

Please see the announcement below for further information

Stage 4: Client and peer review

Stakeholder Notification: Peer reviewers proposed - 22 December 2011

Stage 3: Information gathering, stakeholder meetings and scoring

Revised assessment timeline - 15 December 2011

Revised assessment timeline - 14th August 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Site visits scheduled (RBF) - 14th August 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Site visits scheduled - 31st May 2011

Stage 2: Building the Assessment Tree

Stakeholder Notification: Default assessment tree with RBF - 26th April 2011

Stage 1: Announcement and assessment team formation

Stakeholder Notification: Confirmation of assessment team - 26th April 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Assessment team nominations - 24th March 2011

• Curriculum Vitae: Seran Davies
  
• Curriculum Vitae: Sture Hansson
  
• Curriculum Vitae: Andrew Hough

Stakeholder Notification: Announcement of full reassessment - 24th March 2011

Reassessment timeline - 24th March 2011

Marine and Fisheries Conservation Officer
WWF Sweden Marine Programme

WWF Sweden
Ulriksdals Slott
SE-170 81 Solna
Sweden
Tel. +46 (0) 8 624 74 09
Fax. +468 85 13 29

Contact: Inger Näslund
inger.naslund@wwf.se

Certification body

Moody Marine

Moody International Certification,
Salisbury House,
Stephenson's Way,
The Wyvern Business Park,
Derby,
DE21 6LY
UK

Contact: Seran Davies
Tel: +44 151 650 2275
Email: s.davies@moodyint.com

www.moodymarine.com

Certified as sustainable on 7 August 2006

Summary

Species: Pikeperch (Sander lucioperca)
Location: Lake Hjälmaren, southern Sweden
Fishing methods: Summer fish-trap and Gill-net
Number of fisheries:  1

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More about pikeperch

Pikeperch is a piscivorous freshwater fish that occurs in eastern and central Europe. It can grow reasonably old, to over 20 yrs, and reach a mass of over 10 kg. Pikeperch mature at 3-5 years of age and spawn in shallow water, often 2-5 metres deep, in the spring and early summer. The spawning site is aggressively guarded by the adults until the eggs have hatched.

More about the fishing methods

Gill-nets are nets "set" to intercept fish during their normal migrations. Fish try to swim through deliberately sized mesh openings but are unable to squeeze through swimming forward. Once in this position, they are prevented from backing out because then their gills get caught. The mesh size of gill nets used in Lake Hjälmaren is set to minimize catches of undersized, less than 45 cm, pikeperch.

Fish-traps are used to catch pikeperch mainly during the ice free season in summer.  These traps vary in size, construction and mesh-size. The traps are set at a depth less than 5 metres. The fish get trapped in the part which is called fish house and this is taken up to the surface and emptied by the fishermen.

Fishery tonnage

166 tonnes