The Iceland Sustainable Fisheries (ISF) capelin fishery has started Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) assessment, aiming to be MSC certified as sustainable and well-managed by the end of 2016. If successful, MSC certified capelin will become important within the feed sector and the Asian market.
A commercially important species
Capelin became a commercially important species for the pelagic fleet after the collapse of Atlanto-Scandian herring in the late sixties. Average annual catches last century were around 900,000 tonnes, which peaked in the mid 1990’s with 1.5 million tonnes. Capelin has since been the main pelagic fishery in Iceland for over two decades. Last decade, the annual catches fluctuated on average around 350,000 tonnes. This reduction in catch is most likely due to warmer water that has changed and narrowed the distribution of the fish.
Fishing in the North Sea, Icelandic fishermen catch capelin with purse seine nets and pelagic trawls. Much of the production is exported for fishmeal and fish oil, however there are also thriving Eastern European and Japanese markets for frozen capelin roe and frozen whole capelin with roe.
Gisli Gislason, MSC Manager for Iceland, Faroe and Greenland, explained: "This is the 4th new species the fishery client, Iceland Sustainable Fisheries, brings to the MSC program – before this the clients were already pioneers with MSC certified redfish, lumpfish and ling. This demonstrates leadership by the seafood industry in Iceland, which we warmly welcome."
Kristinn Hjálmarsson, ISF Project Manager, said: "ISF was founded to serve the Iceland seafood industry requirements for fishery certifications. Buyers of capelin products have increasingly been asking for MSC certification.This assessment is response to that and we look forward to work through this assessment process."
Capelin is a low trophic level species, growing to 20-25cm long and usually only living to four years old. It is not only an important commercial fishery but also a key species in the ecosystem as a feed for many species.