More than 700 mackerel fisheries from the European Union and Norway have restarted assessment for Marine Stewardship Council certification, more than two years after their certification was suspended due to the mackerel wars.
The fisheries, which caught 450,000 metric tons last year, or 83% of the total allowable catch recommended by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas that year, will start the re-assessment today, July 10, said the MSC.
Mackerel catches in the Northeast Atlantic could reach a whopping 1.4 million metric tons this year, a big leap from catches of around 900,000t in the past two years and a significant amount above ICES’ revised advice of 1.011m for this year.
The fishing boats in the assessment range from small coastal handline vessels through to large ocean-going pelagic trawlers.
They are entering the assessment under the umbrella of the Mackerel Industry Northern Sustainability Alliance (MINSA), a group formed to respond to the mackerel dispute in the North East Atlantic.
The escalation of the mackerel war which started in 2010 saw the MSC suspend the certification of Northeast Atlantic mackerel fisheries in April 2012. However, a thaw in relations occurred in March, when the EU, the Faroe Islands and Norway who were the original coastal states for mackerel managed to ink a five-year agreement on managing and sharing the stock.
The dispute is not fully over, however; the deal has been denounced by some parties including Iceland, which was not part of the agreement, and by Greenland, which has made repeated calls to be allowed to sit at the table of future negotiations.
The move to enter their members’ vessels to reassessment in one audit underlines the fisheries confidence that the dispute will be resolved and echoes a similar move on Atlanto-Scandian herring in June, said the MSC.
The MINSA members include the following organizations:
SPSG (Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group)
DPPO (Danish Pelagic Producers Organization)
IPSA (Irish Pelagic Sustainability Association)
IPSG (Irish Pelagic Sustainability Group)
NFA (Norges Fiskarlag/The Norwegian Fishermen’s Association)
PFA (Pelagic Freezer-trawler Association Netherlands)
SPFPO (Swedish Pelagic Federation Producers Organisation)
In June, relations also improved for the disputed herring fishery. That month, several European herring fisheries teamed up for a joint MSC assessment, shortly after the EU announced it would lift its sanctions against imports of Faroese herring and mackerel, due to an agreement on catches. The Faroe Islands have since set their herring TAC at 40,000t, a move welcomed by the EU but again denounced by some including the Scots as well as Norway and Iceland.
This is a huge commitment by the MINSA group to embark on joint certification of the North East Atlantic’s most valuable fish stock. Cooperation on this scale has never been seen before this side of the Atlantic but it’s a clear demonstration of our collective vision for a well-managed and sustainable mackerel fishery, said Ian Gatt of Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group and MINSA coordinator.
MINSA is delighted FCI is taking forward the assessment on behalf of the group given their strong track record in delivering pelagic fishery assessments.
This international cooperation is a great response to a challenging situation, says Camiel Derichs, MSC director Europe.
By working together; they’re improving the management of the fishery and making real significant cost savings on their assessment against the MSC Standard.
MINSA fisheries have been at the forefront of best practice for some time. It’s good to see them continuing that by coming together to enter their fisheries for reassessment. This reassessment is a strong demonstration of the fisheries’ confidence that the North East Atlantic mackerel situation will be resolved.