DFPO Denmark North Sea & Skagerrak haddock
MSC status
Certified as sustainable in August 2012.
Summary
Species: Haddock (melanogrammus aeglefinus)
Location: North Sea & Skagerrak, FAO statistical area 27, ICES Area IV, Division IIIa.
Fishing methods: Demersal Trawl (including Scottish Seine), Danish Seine, Longline, Set Nets (Gill and Trammel)
Vessels: Download the vessel list (PDF).
Number of fisheries: 1
More about haddock
Haddock in this area are seldom found below 300m (although Rockall haddock can be found much deeper), and North Sea haddock prefer depths between 50m and 200m. Haddock are bottom feeding fish and occur mainly in waters from 40–200m deep. Haddock mature at around 2–3 years of age, and can spawn anywhere in the area between the eastern Scottish coast and the Norwegian Deeps. Female haddock produce between 0.1 and 2 million eggs. The planktonic eggs are slightly larger than one millimetre and crystal clear. Larvae hatch after one to two weeks and feed first on their own yolk supplies and then, at a length of 5.5mm, begin hunting for tiny crustaceans and other organisms from among the zooplankton. During this phase the young haddock remain in the open sea, near the surface, often seeking protection beneath the umbrellas of large Medusae (jellyfish). After one or two years, when haddock have reached about 10cm they leave the pelagic habitat and become demersal. The maximum age of the haddock is said to be 20 years. However the haddock caught today are mostly between 2-6 years old and weigh around 400 grams to 1 kg approximately. Haddock feed mainly on small bottom-living organisms including crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms, worms and fishes although they can vary their diet and act as both predator and plankton-eater or benthos-eater.
More about the fishing methods
Demersal Trawl
The demersal or bottom otter trawl (single, twin and pair) is a towed fishing gear designed and rigged to have bottom contact during fishing, towed by large trawl vessels, typically in excess of 15m. A demersal trawl is a cone-shaped net consisting of a body, closed by a Cod End knot, and with lateral wings extending forward from the opening. The two towing warps lead from the vessel to the otter boards which act as paravanes to maintain the horizontal net opening. These boards typically weigh between 0.5–2 t and drag across the seabed (with potential to disrupt seabed structure and habitat). The boards are joined to the wing-end by the bridles which herd fish into the path of the net. The net opening is framed by a floating headline and ground gear designed according to the bottom condition to maximise the capture of demersal target species, whilst protecting the gear from damage. The two fleet groups are distinguished
between those using Demersal trawls with mesh size greater or equal than 100mm and those using mesh size between 80mm and 100mm (80mm≤mesh size≤99mm).
Trammel Net
The trammel net used by this fleet is a triple mesh net, anchored to the seabed with a total height of around 1.5m. The inner central mesh is typically 150mm, sandwiched between 2 outer mesh layers (trammels) of 350mm. By having an inner panel of small mesh netting, loosely hung between the two outer panels of large mesh netting, when a fish strikes the net it pushes the small-meshed netting forward through the large mesh, forming a pocket in which it is trapped.
Gill Net
A gill net consists of a single netting wall kept more or less vertical by a float line and a weighted ground line. The net is set on the bottom, and kept stationary by anchors on both ends and at 50m intervals. A gill net mesh size is chosen to allow only the head and gill covers of the targeted size of fish to pass through and be trapped.
Danish Seine
The Danish Seine, or anchor seine, is a ground fishing method for demersal fish where the warps and net (conical net with two long wings) are laid out from an anchored dhan buoy by the vessel. Hauling of the net is slow at first, with the two net warps herding fish towards the path of the net as they close. As hauling proceeds, winch speed increases and the net begins to move in the direction of tow, with the lateral wings of the net increasingly acting to herd the fish. When the ropes are nearly closed haul speed increases again enabling the net to capture the remaining fish in its path. Finally the net is bought alongside the ship (or ships stern depending on vessel configuration) to allow the cod end to be craned / winched aboard and emptied.
Longline
Longline fishing is a method consisting of a long line, onto which leaders are fixed at regular intervals (usually every 2-2.5 meters). Attached to these are hooks with some sort of bait on them (approximately 250 hooks per line and about 12-16 lines are used per vessel). Haddock longline fishing uses squid and herring (approximately 10-30 kilograms per day). Longline gear is deployed at 35-60 meters of depth.
Fishery tonnage
1,300 t in 2008 and 1,500 in 2009
Commercial market
Haddock is mainly exported chilled to the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Actual eligibility date
24 October 2011
