Sustainability notes

This is an overview of how the Pacific hake mid-water trawl 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 abundance of the Pacific hake stock has been independently surveyed every 2-3 years since 1977, and stock assessments are conducted annually. In 2000 and 2001, the stock was overexploited. However based on the official 2008 stock assessment, there is a high probability that the hake stock is currently being exploited at sustainable levels.
  

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

• Bycatch and discard levels in this fishery are low. Regular assessments are made of the main bycatch species, but some of these populations are depleted so the fishery is using a precautionary approach to altering fishing practices to allow for the recovery of these species. There is little contact with the sea bottom or resulting habitat impacts since this trawl fishery operates mid-water in the pelagic zone.
  

Principle 3: the fishery management systems

• The Pacific mid-water trawl fishery operates within a legally robust management framework that complies with domestic, regional and international law.  To enhance transparency and effectiveness, the fishery will be independently reviewed to identify and address gaps in the fishery monitoring program. 
  

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:  

• The client group has committed to re-evaluating the maturity data used in stock assessments to ensure the life history characteristics of Pacific hake are fully accounted for and updated periodically. Fisheries and oceanographic studies will also be used to inform the stock assessment process, so that the effects of environmental influences on hake abundance and distribution are taken into account as appropriate. Additionally, the management strategy will be evaluated to ensure that it is set at a precautionary and effective level, since Pacific hake have high recruitment variability. For the US fishery, further research is planned on corrective actions to determine whether enforcement priorities were met and were effective.