Sustainability notes

This is an overview of how the Hastings Dover sole trawl and gill-net 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 species is readily identified by fishers and by regulators and is recorded appropriately. Sole (Solea solea) are easily identified as adults and juveniles.
  
• Main fishing methods and gear types employed in the fishery are known and well-documented. Recorded information is available on the size and composition of the fleet in the most recent ICES assessment working group report, and regular reviews are conducted. Seasonal and geographic variations are known.
  
• The stock is considered to be within safe biological limits according to ICES criteria. The stock has a high probability of being above its limit reference point and the stock is at or fluctuating around its precautionary/target reference point.
  

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

• There is good knowledge of the few protected, endangered or threatened species that occur within the certification area. Partnerships between NGOs and statutory bodies work to monitor populations, detect changes and manage adverse impacts.
  
• Gear loss is unusual in this fishery, for both gear types. Trawling and netting operations are spatially separated in the area, minimizing risk of conflicts between fishery types that could result in gear loss.
• The Sussex Sea Fisheries Committee ensures a process where unacceptable fishing practices can be detected, monitored and where necessary management measures can be put in place to prevent them. This Committee has the powers to enforce byelaws where necessary to prevent unsustainable fishing and to monitor their effectiveness.
• Information is available on the trophic position, status and relationships of the target species within the food web. The prey of adult and juvenile sole has been well-described, and the food web of key species in the North Sea (ECIES Area IV) has been described through a multi-species Virtual Population Analysis.
  

Principle 3: the fishery management systems

• The Hastings trawl and gill net sole fishery is small scale with annual catches generally less than 100 tonnes. Their allocated quota is administered through the local Hastings Fishermen’s Protection Society in a manner appropriate to the size and cultural context of the fishery. The Hastings fishery is regulated by a well-established framework consistent with traditional regional practices.
  
• The system has no subsidies that contribute to unsustainable fishing or ecosystem degradation.
  
• Fishery operatives assist significantly in the collection and recording of all appropriate catch, discard and other information. Fishermen are very cooperative and willing to take observers from defra and scientists from CEFAS at any time, with some vessels voluntarily completing and submitting catch log books for UK scientists to use.
  

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:  

• Accurate reporting of all catches (including bycatch), discards and landings take place to the relevant scientific agency (i.e. CEFAS), so as to allow their significance to be determined.
• The client will liaise with the relevant scientific agency to agree how the above issue should be addressed.
• Measures should be introduced to provide an appropriate level of precautionary management – such as, for instance, the introduction of voluntary or statutory measures to protect important benthic habitats in the area.
  
• Records of incidental catches (e.g. of seabirds, sea mammals, shad and other endangered, threatened or protected (ETP) species) should be maintained and made available to appropriate scientific and management bodies. The conservation significance of catches of ETP species within the certified fishery should be established, and if necessary, any required modifications to fishing practices should be implemented as soon as practically possible at the most within the present certification.
• Measures should be introduced to provide an appropriate level of precautionary management to ensure that ecosystem interactions are constrained by formalized precautionary procedures.