Certifier : 
Bureau Veritas Certification
Certified status : 
Withdrawn
Certified since : 
22 May 2017
Certificate expires : 
21 Nov 2022

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.

When the term “Unit of Certification” is used for fishing units that are in assessment, it refers to the “Unit of Assessment” or “Unit of potential certification”. Expand a status below to view the parts that form this fishery. To check the detailed scope, download the latest certificate or open the Assessments page to get the latest report. Find out more by visiting our page on Fisheries

Units of Certification & Certificate Information

  • No longer in the program
    MSC UoC Number Species Gear Type Ocean Area Status (Units of Certification) Certificate Code
    UoC-1370 European sprat (Sprattus sprattus) Trawls - Midwater trawls - otter trawls: Pelagic trawl 27 (Atlantic, Northeast) Withdrawn MSC-F-31308 (F-BV-0580)

View glossary of terms

Catch by Species

Species Reported Catch Year Metric Tonnes
European sprat (Sprattus sprattus) 2020 22,991

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.

Eligibility, client groups and vessel lists

A fishery may choose to define the members of the fishery certificate. These members can be vessels or other client group members (e.g. companies that own vessels and/or companies that are named as eligible to handle certified product covered within the fishery certificate scope). Please refer to the fishery certificate statement on additional product specific eligibility criteria (e.g. product eligibility limitations, eligibility date, exclusive points of landing and the point where Chain of Custody certificate is required). Please consult the fishery Public Certification Report for product eligibility rationale.

Documents Published on Files
Vessel List 06 May 2022 1 files

About this Fishery

The applicant fishery operates in the Baltic Sea and encompasses 22 LFPO pelagic (midwater) trawlers operated by 11 Latvian fishing companies - members of the National Fishermen’s Producers Organization (LFPO) for Latvia. The vessels landed 16 437 tons of sprat in 2016, representing approximately 8 % of the EU quota for the sprat in the Baltic Sea. The catch is landed in Latvia and processed into sprat in brine and oil for human consumption. Most of the products are exported to other European countries while 10-15% goes to the domestic market. There is little bycatch.

 Image of vessels at dock courtesy of LFPO

Market Information

The LFPO's main sprat products are:

- Sprat in brine (5 and 10kg buckets)

- IQF (Industrial Quick Freezing)

- Block Freezing (10 to 25 kg packs)

Apart from the domestic (Latvian) market, main markets are Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark and Poland.