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ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING
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Four Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified Atlanto-Scandian
herring fisheries are at high risk of losing their certificates by
30 December 2020. Catch of Atlanto-Scandian herring is above
scientifically advised limits because governments have failed to
reach a quota sharing agreement for the stock.
In 2017, 84% of the total Atlanto-Scandian herring catch came
from four MSC certified fisheries:
• Norway Spring Spawning Herring•
SPSG,DPPO,PFA,SPFPO&KFOAtlanto-ScandianPurseSeineandPelagicTrawlHerring,combinedfleetsfrom
across the EU • Iceland Sustainable Fisheries (ISF) Norwegian
and Icelandic Herring Trawl and Seine • Faroese Pelagic
Organisation Atlanto-Scandian Herring
MSC CERTIFIED ATLANTO-SCANDIAN SPRING SPAWNING HERRING
FISHERIES
Atlanto-Scandian herring are fished by the North East Atlantic
Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) contracting parties:
• Coastal states: the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK),
Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Russia. • Fishing nation:
Greenland has access to Atlanto-Scandian herring through
international waters or through bilateral
agreements with coastal states.
NATIONS FISHING ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING
•
Thecoastalstatesandfishingnationssetthetotalallowablecatchfor2020at525,594tonnes,inlinewithscientificadvicefromtheInternationalCouncilfortheExplorationoftheSeas(ICES)1.
• Butthestatesinvolveddidnotreachanagreementon how the total
allowable catch would be shared between them.
Catch exceeds scientific advice
•
Asaresult,eachstateindividuallysetitsintendedcatchfor2020.Whencombined,thoseintendedcatchesamountto693,915tonnes,exceedingscientificadvicebyalmostathird2.
•
Therehavebeennoquotasharingagreementsinplacesince2012,andthecombinedintendedcatchfromtheinvolvednationshasexceededscientificadviceeveryyearsince.
WHY ARE ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING FISHERIES AT RISK OF SUSPENSION
FROM THE MSC PROGRAM?
30.09.20
Combined total catch compared to scientific advice
Quota sharing agreement
400,000
02010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
800,000
1,200,000
1,600,000
Tonnes
No quota sharing agreement
Scientifically advised catch
Combined total catch
1-2ICESadviceonfishingopportunities,catchandeffortforNortheastAtlanticandArcticOceanecoregions(2019)
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MANAGING ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING STOCK
•
Herringareanimportantfoodsourceforotherfish,seabirdsandmarinemammals,andarepopularforhumanconsumption.
•
Inthemid-20thCentury,Atlanto-Scandianherringstockwasoverfished.Spawningpopulationwasaround10milliontonnesinthelate1950s,butthepopulationcollapsedinthelate1960s,recoveringonlyafter20yearsofrestrictedcatches.3
• Since2008,thespawningpopulationofAtlanto-Scandian herring has
been declining once again.4
• TheMSCFisheriesStandardisfocusedonsecuring and maintaining the
long-term healthoffishstocks.
•
RobuststockmanagementisafundamentalprincipleoftheMSCFisheriesStandardforsustainablefishing.Itisessentialtoavoidtheboom-bustcycleofoverfishingandrecovery.
Atlanto-Scandian Spring Spawners
North Sea Autumn Spawners (Div IVa&b)
WesternBaltic Spring Spawners
West of Scotland (Vlan)
West of Ireland & Porcupine Bank
Irish Sea
Downs
CentralBaltic
BothnianSea
BothnianBay
Gulfof Riga
Celtic Sea & Vllj&k
IcelandicSummer Spawners
Primary areas of major herring stocks in the North East
Atlantic5
Atlanto-Scandian herring stock
other North East Atlantic herring stocks
Without an international quota-sharing agreement there is a high
risk that the four MSC certified Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries
will lose their MSC certificates. One fishery is likely to fail its
ongoing re-assessment, whilst the other three are at risk of
suspension from their current MSC certificates on 30 December
2020.
•
AlthoughthefisheriesmettheinternationallyrecognisedMSCFisheriesStandard,independentassessorsfoundthattheyallneededtoimprovetheirstockmanagementsystems.ThisisbecausethenationsthatfishAtlanto-Scandianherringhavenotreachedanagreementonhowtosharethequotaforthisstock.
•
Quotaagreementsareessentialforstocksnottobeoverfishedandtoremainhealthyintheshort,mediumand
long term.
•
TheassessorsseteachfisherythesameconditionofMSCcertification:toimprovetheirstockmanagementtothe‘bestpractice’setlevelbytheMSCFisheriesStandard.Thisrequiresmanagementpracticessuchasaquotasharingagreement
to be in place.
•
Allfourfisheriesweresetajointdeadlinebytheassessorstoresolvetheconditionby2020.Thiswasfirststipulatedin2015,givingfisheriesafive-yeartimeframetoworktowards.
•
Becausegovernmentshavenotreachedaquotasharingagreement,thefisherieshavebeenunabletoachievethisgoal.Asaresult,oneofthefisheriesislikelytofailitsongoingreassessment,andtheotherthreefisheriesareathighriskofbeingsuspendedfromtheMSCcertificationprogram.
LACK OF QUOTA AGREEMENT AFFECTS STOCK MANAGEMENT
There are several different herring stocks within the North-East
Atlantic Ocean. Atlanto-Scandian herring stock is found primarily
between the Norwegian Sea, from the shores of Iceland and Norway,
and the Barents Sea, off the shores of Russia. It can also be found
off the coasts of Scotland and the Faroe Islands.
3DragesundOetal,(1997),Sarsia82:97-1054ICESadviceonfishingopportunities,catchandeffortforNortheastAtlanticandARCTICOceanecoregions(2019)5VonDorrienetal.,(2013),ActaIchthyologicaletPiscatoria43:(3),169-182
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CAN MSC CERTIFICATION BE REINSTATED?
Suspendedfisherieshave90daystosubmitacorrectiveactionplanto
assessors. This must setouthowthefisherywill address the causes
ofsuspension.IftheplanisapprovedtheirMSCcertificatecanpotentiallybe
reinstated in the
future,butonlyafterthenecessaryimprovementshavebeenmadeandsuccessfullyaudited.
Ifthefisherydoesnotachievetheimprovementsrequiredbeforethedeadlinesetintheactionplan,thefisheryiswithdrawnfromtheMSCprogram.Fisheriescanbeginanewassessmenttore-jointheMSCprogramlater–butonlywhentheconditionsofpreviouscertificationshavebeenmet.
ALTERNATIVE MSC CERTIFIED PRODUCTS
ThereareseveralotherMSCcertifiedherringfisheriesfromwhichproductscanbesourced.Thisincludes
North Sea herring, which has an annual
catchof500,000tonnes,Icelandsummerspawningherring,CentralBalticherringandIrishSeaherring.AlistofalternativeMSCcertifiedherringfisheriescanbefoundat:fisheries.msc.org
ConsumersareencouragedtocontinuetoonlybuyMSCcertifiedherringproducts.Ifnosustainableherringisavailable,weadviseconsumerstolookforalternativeMSCcertifiedseafood.
INDUSTRY PRESSURE ON GOVERNMENTS
Thefishingindustry,retailers,andwholesalesectorshavepubliclycalledonthecoastalstatestoreachaneffectiveagreementonsustainablequotasforsharedfishstocksintheNorthAtlantic.
Commercialpartners,fishermenandnon-governmentalorganisations
should encouragegovernmentstoreachaquotasharingagreement, and
highligh the impact the issue is havingonthemtopolicymakers.
MACKEREL AND BLUE WHITING FISHERIES
Thelackofquotasharingagreementsbetweentheinvolvedstatesisalsoaffectingotherfisheriesintheregion.FourMSCcertifiedbluewhitingfisheriesintheNorthEastAtlanticareatahighriskofsuspensionon30December2020.AllMSCcertifiedNorthEastAtlanticmackerelfisheriesweresuspendedfromtheMSCprogramin2019andhavenotyetbeenreinstatedduetoongoingconcern
about how catch is managed in response
toscientificdataonstocklevels.
THE IMPACT OF SUSPENSION ON BUYERS AND RETAILERS
•IfsuspensionoftheMSCcertificatesoccurs,Atlanto-ScandianherringcaughtafterthedateofsuspensioncannotbetradedasMSCcertifiedorcarrytheMSCecolabel.
• MSCcertifiedherringcaughtbeforethedateofsuspension can still
be stocked and sold with
theMSClabelafterthesuspensionhascomeintoforce.
• Atlanto-Scandian herring
caughtbeforesuspensionbutlandedafterwardscanonlybesoldasMSCcertifiedifthefisherycanshowthefishwereseparated
on board accordingtodateofcapture.
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KEY MEETINGS AND MILESTONES
Coastalstatesagreeanewlong-termmanagementstrategyforAtlanto-Scandianherring,whichdidnotincludeaquotasharingagreement
Independentassessorsforeachfisherysetajointdeadlineforfisheriestoresolveconditionsby30November2020
ICESannouncelateststockassessmentdataandscientificadviceontotalallowablecatchlimitsfor2021
North-EastAtlanticCoastalStatesmeetingtodiscussinternationalmanagementmeasures
AnnualmeetingofEUCounciltodiscussfishingnegotiations.
AssessorsexpectedtoannouncenoticeofsuspensionoffisheriesfromtheMSCprogram
AnysuspensionsfromtheMSCprogramannouncedinNovemberexpectedtocomeintoforce.OneofthefisheriesexpectedtohavelefttheMSCprogram.
Deadlineforfisheriestosubmitcorrectiveactionplansaddressingthecauseofsuspension.
October 2018
Timeline leading up to potential suspension of MSC certified
Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries.
CoastalstatessetatotalallowablecatchlimitforAtlanto-Scandianherring,in-linewithscientificadvice,butdonotreachagreementonquotasharing
October 2019
January 2020
October 2020
December 2020
November 2020
30 December 2020
28 February 2021
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