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

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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