Certifier : 
Acoura Marine Limited trading as LRQA
Certified status : 
Combined with another assessment
Certified since : 
07 Jun 2012
Certificate expires : 
24 Nov 2019

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 Joint demersal fisheries in the North Sea and adjacent waters for more information.

 

Units of Certification & Certificate Information

  • No longer in the program
    MSC UoC Number Species Gear Type Ocean Area Status (Units of Certification)
    UoC-0589 Sole (Solea solea) Gillnets And Entangling Nets - Combined gillnets-trammel nets 27 (Atlantic, Northeast) Withdrawn
    UoC-0713 Sole (Solea solea) Trawls - Bottom trawls 27 (Atlantic, Northeast) Withdrawn
    UoC-0579 Sole (Solea solea) Trawls - Bottom trawls 27 (Atlantic, Northeast) Withdrawn

View glossary of terms

Catch by Species

Species Reported Catch Year Metric Tonnes
Sole (Solea solea) 2017 470

Information is provided by an independent Conformity Assessment Body as live weight (the weight of species at the time of catch, before processing) and where a fishing season covers multiple years, the end year is given as the reported catch year. Additional information is available in the latest report, see the assessments page.

About this Fishery

Common sole is a widely distributed species, extending from the Mediterranean and Northwest African coast, as far south as Senegal, to the Irish Sea, southern North Sea and Skagerrak and Kattegat. During the winter months they move to warmer offshore waters, but spawning fish return to the same spawning grounds every Spring.

Vessels belonging to the Danish Fishermen’s Producer Organization (DFPO) operate in the central eastern North Sea. This is near the northern limit of the species, but includes some of the highest concentrations of sole, and important nursery grounds. 

Larger vessels use demersal or bottom otter trawls (single, twin and pair) – cone-shaped nets with a closed cod-end and extending lateral wings, which are towed along the seabed. Other vessels use set nets (gillnets or trammel nets).

A management plan is in place to rebuild depleted stocks, which is proving successful. As a condition of certification, the fishery is making a number of improvements. These include setting harvest limits that will enable sole to be harvested at the maximum sustainable yield, improving the management of other retained species such as Norwegian lobster, and demonstrating which habitat types may be affected by the fishery and how any potential impacts will be limited.

 

Market Information

Sole is mainly exported as chilled fish to the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain.