UK Fisheries/DFFU/Doggerbank Northeast Arctic cod, haddock and saithe
MSC status
Certified as sustainable in May 2012.
Summary
Species: Cod (gadus morhua), haddock (melanogrammus aeglefinus) and saithe (pollachius virens)
Location: North East Arctic – ICES Sub Areas I and II in FAO statistical area 27.
Fishing methods: Demersal otter trawl
Vessels: 8
Number of fisheries: 3
More about cod/haddock/saithe
Cod
Cod (Gadus morhua) is the most iconic fishery species of the north Atlantic, it can be found from the surface down to around 600m depth, but is most abundant between 150m and 200m. They are generalist demersal carnivores, feeding on any invertebrates or fish of the appropriate size, including capelin, argentine, pout, sand eels and juveniles of other demersal species, including cod.
Haddock
Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) has a similar geographic range to cod, although perhaps with a slightly more southerly core – it is rare around Greenland and reaches a little further south along the east coast of North America. Haddock also tends to be found slightly shallower than cod, preferring a depth range of ~75-200m, although it can also be found down to 600m. Nonetheless, its ecology is similar to that of cod, to which it is closely related. Haddock are also generalist demersal carnivores that feed on both invertebrates and fish. They are, however, more likely to feed demersally on benthic invertebrates than cod, which are more strongly piscivorous.
Saithe
Saithe (Pollachius virens) is also distributed across the North Atlantic, in the Barents Sea, around Greenland and Iceland, in the North Sea and as far south as the Bay of Biscay and North Carolina (although rare on the edges of this range). It is gregarious, and is known to migrate ontogenetically and for spawning. Adult saithe are piscivorous, feeding on smaller fish than cod. In the eastern Atlantic, juvenile saithe are distributed in coastal waters – in the fjords on the coast of Norway, for example. They mature at around 3 years of age, and at the same time migrate offshore where they live as adults roughly between 200 and 400 m depth
More about the fishing methods
The gear used in this fishery is a standard demersal rockhopper otter trawl. The trawl mesh size must be at least 130mm. The otter boards (trawl doors) weigh 4-5 tonnes and are ~9m2. Trawling depth is mainly 200-250 m (minimum ~120 m, maximum ~300 m), and trawl duration is highly variable depending on catch rate. The net also includes a sorting grill with an 80 mm grid separation. The trawl doors are 9-10.5 m2, weighing 4-5 tonnes. The DFFU / Doggerbank vessels fish in trips of around 60 days, landing frozen product into Germany or more rarely Iceland.
Fishery tonnage
In 2008 the fishery landed 13,783 tonnes of cod, 1,222 tonnes of haddock and 309 tonnes of saithe.
In 2009 the fishery landed 18,739 tonnes cod, 3,410 tonnes haddock and 365 tonnes of saithe.
Commercial market
Catch is sold globally. The usual markets are the UK for cod and Germany for saithe.
Actual eligibility date
15 January 2012
