Sustainability notes

This is an overview of how the Danish Pelagic Producers Organisation North Sea herring fishery scored in assessment against the MSC standard. For the certifiers evaluation please download the full public certification report with detailed information on the performance of this fishery against the criteria of the MSC environmental standard for sustainable fishing.

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.