Stornoway nephrops trawl
MSC status
Certified as sustainable on 14 April 2009.
The Conformity Assessment Body, Intertek Moody Marine, has released the third Surveillance Report for the Stornoway nephrops trawl fishery. Following the surveillance audit, Intertek Moody Marine has suspended the MSC certification of the fishery, effective from today, 29 March 2012. Fish caught after 29 March cannot be described or sold as MSC certified or carry the MSC ecolabel; however, fish caught before this date may still bear the MSC ecolabel provided it complies with MSC Chain of Custody requirements for traceability and separation. The fishery now has up to 90 days to work with Intertek Moody Marine to put in place a plan to introduce corrective measures. If the certification body approves the action plan, the fishery will remain suspended while the corrective measures are being implemented. Failure to put a suitable plan in place will result in the fishery having its certificate withdrawn at the end of the 90 days.
Please refer to the assessment downloads section for further information
Summary
Species: Nephrops (Nephrops norvegicus)
Location: The Stornoway fishery is located within ICES Division VIa, Management Area C and straddles Functional Units 11 (North Minch) and 12 (South Minch). Fishing activity in recent years has focused on fishing grounds in the North Minch east of Stornoway.
Fishing methods: Otter trawl
Number of fisheries: 1
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More about Nephrops
Nephrops are distributed throughout the north-east Atlantic Ocean, from Icelandic waters in the north-west to Norwegian waters in the north-east, and south to the coastal waters of Morocco. Found in water depths of 20 to 800 metres, the species lives in a muddy habitat in which it can create the burrows in which they live. Adult nephrops can grow as large as 24cm, but predominantly size of adult nephrops ranges between 10 and 20cm.
More about the fishing methods
The certified fishery is undertaken using an otter trawl fishing gear. Otter trawling involves a cone shaped net being towed behind a fishing vessel in close proximity and/or in contact with the seabed. The vessels within the certified Stornoway employ a lifting bag (double codend) within the gear configuration to reduce the impact of the fishing gear coming in contact with the seabed.
Fishery tonnage
17, 676 tonnes
Commercial market
There are two markets exploited by Young's Seafood, a frozen langoustine product, principally for the southern European export market, and utilisation of tails in Scampi production, largely for the domestic UK market.
