Certified as sustainable on the 25th June 2009.

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Summary

Species: Herring (Clupea harengus)
Location: ICES divisions IV a, b, c, and VII d.
Fishing methods: Purse seine and pelagic trawl.
Vessels: 8 vessels, of which three are trawlers and five are combined trawlers and purse seiners.
Number of fisheries: 1

More about herring

Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) is a pelagic species widely distributed throughout the North- East Atlantic north of the Bay of Biscay and is found all over in the North Sea.
North Sea herring spawn in coastal waters in areas where the substrate consist of gravel and small stones. The eggs are attached to the substrate and hatch after about three weeks depending on temperature. The requirement for a gravel substrate means that the spawning grounds are relatively small and well defined.
Herring is a central component in the North Sea ecosystem both as predator and as prey. Herring feeds mainly on zooplankton (copepods, mysids, euphausiids, fish egg and larvae) and juvenile fish. Herring is an important prey for most predator species including cod, saithe, whiting, mackerel, sea birds and marine mammals.

More about the fishing methods

The herring trawls are mid-water or pelagic trawls. The trawl is towed by the fishing vessel at an appropriate level below the surface to catch the herring shoals. The depth is controlled by a combination of trawling speed and wire length. When the trawl is hauled the trawl is brought to the side of the vessel and the catch is pumped onboard into RSW tanks containing refrigerated seawater.
The pelagic trawls used are not designed to fish on the sea bed and any contact with the bottom involves risk of damage to the trawl. The skippers therefore operate the trawl so that there is no contact with the sea bed. As a result, there is no or very little impact on sea bed habitats when fishing with herring trawls.
The purse seine technique involves the setting of a large net around a shoal of fish, closing the bottom of the net to form a “purse”, and then drawing in the net to the vessel. At the time when the “purse” is sufficiently small in size to be brought to the side of the vessel, the catch is pumped onboard and kept in RSW tanks as described above.
As it is the case with the pelagic trawl the purse seine has no contact with the bottom.

Fishery tonnage

26,195 tonnes (2008)

Commercial market

The main commercial market for DPPO North Sea herring is Germany

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

Principle 1: the state of the fish stock

• The stock is consistently maintained at high productivity levels which do not impair recruitment.
• The geographical range of the species is well defined as are the spawning, nursery and feeding grounds and the migration routes linking them.
  Annual assessments of the stock are undertaken with the outcomes subject to regular review and regular discussion with stakeholders and peers via presentations at international conferences.
• All fishing methods and gear types employed in the fishery are known. Comprehensive knowledge is recorded and regularly updated, on the size and composition of the fleets.
• There is an effective harvest strategy in place which is under constant review in response to annual stock assessments
  

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

• The fishery is very selective for the target species and has negligible impact on other retained species. Accurate and verifiable information on the nature and extent of retained species is collected. In addition regulations in the fishery provide strong incentives for not catching other retained species.
• There is no risk of serious harm to any bycatch species, and levels of by-catch are extremely low.
  There are very low interactions between this fishery and any endangered, threatened or protected species with surveys reporting no by-catches of marine mammals.
• The fishery benefits from the excellent knowledge of the ecosystem of the region with some datasets extending back over many decades. As a result, the nature, sensitivity and the distribution of all habitats relevant to the fishing operations are known in detail and are based on recent scientific information.
• As the fishing is pelagic in nature, there is no direct impact of gear on the marine environment. The possibility of accidental gear loss is also considered negligible.
• The fishery does not adversely or permanently affect the structure, productivity, function or diversity of the ecosystem.
  

Principle 3: the fishery management systems

• The management system in place is very comprehensive, operating within an international framework of cooperation between nations fishing these herring stocks.
• The data gathering and assessment methodology is subject to continuous internal scientific review within ICES, with participation by scientists from many countries.
• The system observes all legal and customary rights of people dependent upon fishing under a formal codified system.
• There is a very active research programme which aims to provide scientific information to meet the requirements of management of the fishery.
  

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:  

• Agree within the first year of certification clearly demonstrate that it does not contribute to overshooting of the total allowed catch (TAC) and continue to provide satisfactory evidence of this at annual audits over the 5 year certification period.
• Provide evidence within the first year of certification that the fishery will actively be involved with the Directorate in reducing the incidence of misreporting of some North Sea herring catches as non-certified (for this fishery) Skagerrak herring.
  

The fishery: Unit of certification

The certified Danish Pelagic Producers Organisation North Sea herring fishery is defined as:

Surveillance 2: Completed July 2011

Surveillance report No.2 - 26th July 2011

Stakeholder Notification: Annual surveillance audit - 13th May 2011

Surveillance 1: Completed August 2010

Surveillance No.1 - 3rd August 2010

Stakeholder Notification: Annual surveillance audit - April 9th 2010

Stakeholder Notification: Notification of Timing of Surveillance Audit - 19th March 2010

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

Certificate of compliance F-55806-2009 - Valid 25th June 2009 to 25th June 2014

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

No objections were received

Public certification report - 24th June 2009

Stakeholder Notification: Issuance of public certification report - 24th June 2009

Stage 6: Final report and determination

Final report and determination - 28th May 2009

Stakeholder Notification: Announcement of final report and determination - 28th May 2009

Stage 5: Public review of the draft assessment report

Public comment draft report - 6th April 2009

Stakeholder Notification: Public comment draft report released - 6th April 2009

Stage 4: Client and peer review

Peer reviewers confirmed - 25th November 2008

Stakeholder Notification: Peer reviewers proposed - 24th October 2008

Stage 3: Information gathering, stakeholder meetings and scoring

Stakeholder Notification: Site Visit scheduled - 23rd September 2008

Stage 2: Building the Assessment Tree

Stakeholder Notification: Draft assessment tree released for comment - 7th September 2008

Stage 1: Fishery Announcement and Assessment Team Formation

Stakeholder Notification: Assessment team nomination - 18th September 2008.

Danish Pelagic Producers Organisation Denmark

The North Sea Centre,
Willemoesvej 2,
DK-9850 Hirtshals,
Denmark

Contact: Christian Olesen, Director
Email: po@pelagisk.dk
Tel: +45 9894 4239
Fax: +45 9894 2923

Certification Body

Det Norske Veritas (DNV)

Vibeke Bagger, Lead Auditor

Veritasveien  1,
1322 Høvik,
Norway

Contact: Sandhya Chaudhury, Lead Auditor
Email: sandhya.chaudhury@dnv.com
Tel: +45 24 23 88 56

www.dnv.com