- Certifier :
- Control Union (UK) Limited
- Certified status :
- Combined with another assessment
- Certified since :
- 21 Jul 2009
- Certificate expires :
- 21 Jul 2015
Overview
Fisheries are composed of one or more parts, each of which is entitled to receive an MSC certificate. These parts or “units” are defined by their target stock(s), fishing gear type(s) and if relevant vessel type(s), and the fishing fleets or groups of vessels.
Attention
Some or all units that participated in this fishery are now covered by another assessment. Please see the SPSG, DPPO, PFA, SPFPO & KFO Atlanto-Scandian purse seine and pelagic trawl herring for more information.
About this Fishery
NOTE: this fishery has been combined with SPSG, DPPO, PFA, SPFPO & KFO Atlanto-Scandian purse seine and pelagic trawl herring from 2016.
Atlantic herring is found throughout the continental shelf waters of the North Atlantic, from the Gulf of Maine to the Gulf of St Lawrence off the east coast of North America, around Iceland, and from the Barents Sea to the English Channel and Celtic Sea in the Northeast Atlantic.
Its distribution is made up of numerous more-or-less isolated or independent stocks, the largest of which is the Atlanto-Scandian or Norwegian spring spawning herring stock. At various times of its life history it occupies some or all of the waters between Iceland, Norway and Spitzbergen (Svalbard).
North Sea herring spawn in coastal waters in areas where the substrate consists of gravel and small stones. These spawning grounds are relatively small and well defined.
Herring is a central component in the North Sea food web. Herring feeds mainly on zooplankton and juvenile fish, and is an important prey for most predator species including cod, saithe, whiting, mackerel, sea birds and marine mammals.
Herring are targeted by mid-water or pelagic trawls, or purse seine nets. The purse seine technique involves the setting of a large net around a shoal of fish, closing the bottom of the net to form a “purse”, and then drawing in the net to the vessel.
Neither method has an impact on the seabed. As herring form single-species shoals, bycatch of other species is minimal.
Herring image © David Trodd
Market Information
The herring landed by the Danish Pelagic Producers Organisation (DPPO) fleet is almost exclusively exported. The main market for the DPPO Atlanto Scandian herring is the EU.