MSC FISHERY ASSESSMENT REPORT
Final Report for:
Faroese Pelagic Organisation Felagið Nótaskip
Atlanto-Scandian Herring Fishery
REPORT NO. 2009-0004 REVISION NO. 3– 12.01.2010
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Date of first issue: Project No.: DET NORSKE VERITAS AS 05.10.2009 45127375 DET NORSKE VERITAS Organisational unit: DNV Business Assurance DNV Business Assurance Veritasveien 1, 1322 HØVIK, Norway Client: Client ref.: Tel: +47 67 57 99 00 Fax: +47 67 57 99 11 Faroese Pelagic Organisation Jógvan Jespersen, Director http://www.dnv.com (Felagið Nótaskip)
Project Name: Faroese Pelagic Organisation Atlanto-Scandian Herring Fisheries Country: Faroe Islands Determination Phases/Type of report: Client Report Peer Review Report Public Comment Draft Report (Stakeholders review) Final Report Public Certification Report The objective of this project has been to asess Faroese Pelagic Organisation for MSC-Fishery certification for Atlanto-Scandian (Norwegian Spring Spawning) Herring fisheries, caught by purse seine and pelagic trawl.
Report No.: Date of this revision: Rev. No. Key words: 2009-0004 12.01.2010 3
MSCR t titl Fishery Assessment report: Faroese Pelagic Organisation Atlanto-Scandian Herring Fishery
Work carried out by: Eskild Kirkegaard (Independent P1 & P2 expert) No distribution without permission from the Client or responsible organisational unit Óli Samró (Independent country & P3 expert) Anna Kiseleva (Team-leader, DNV) Sandhya Chaudhury (Lead-auditor, DNV) Rolf Petter Hancke (DNV Norway)
Anett Valsvik (DNV Norway) Limited distribution
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ABBREVIATIONS
ACOM (ICES) Advisory Committee
ACFA Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture
AS Atlanto-Scandian (herring)
CFP Common Fisheries Policy
DNV Det Norske Veritas
FAMRI Faroe Marine Research Institute
FPO Faroese Pelagic Organization
FVOA Faroese Vessel Owners Association
EC European Commission
EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone
ETP Endangered, threatened and protected species
EU European Union
FAM Fisheries Assessment Methodology
FO Faroe Island
GT Gross Tonnage
HCR Harvest Control Rule
ICES International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
ITQ Individual Transferable Quota
MCS Monitoring, Control and Surveillance
MSC Marine Stewardship Council
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NASCO North Atlantic Conservation Organisation
NEAFC The North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission
NEA North-East Atlantic
NE North East
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
NSS Norges Sildesalgslag
OSPAR Oslo-Paris Convention (Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic) P1 Principle 1
P2 Principle 2
P3 Principle 3
PI Performance Indicator
RAC Regional Advisory Council
RSW Refrigerated Sea Water
SEAPOP Seabird Population Management and Petroleum Operations
SGP Scoring guidepost
SSB Spawning Stock Biomass
SWOT Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
TAC Total Allowable Catch
UK United Kingdom
UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
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VMS Vessel Monitoring System
VPA Virtual Population Analysis
WGNPBW (ICES) Working Group on Northern Pelagic and Blue Whiting Fisheries.
WWF World Wildlife Fund WGWIDE (ICES) Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks
LIST OF SYMBOLS
Blim Minimum biomass (biological reference point). Below this value recruitment is expected to be ‘impaired’ or the stock dynamics are unknown.
Bmsy Biomass corresponding to the Maximum Sustainable Yield
Bpa Precautionary buffer to avoid that true SSB is at Blim when the perceived SSB is at Bpa. F Fishing mortality
Flim Fishing mortality that is expected to drive the stock to the biomass limit when it is maintained over time.
Fpa Precautionary buffer to avoid that true fishing mortality is at Flim when
perceived fishing mortality is at Fpa.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
ABBREVIATIONS...... 3
LIST OF SYMBOLS...... 5
1 SUMMARY ...... 10 1.1 The Assessment team 10 1.2 Assessment timeline 10 1.3 Scores for each Principle 10 1.4 Strength and weakness 10 1.4.1 Strengths 10 1.4.2 Weaknesses 10 1.5 Determination 11 1.6 Conditions and timescales 11
2 INTRODUCTION...... 12 2.1 The Unit of Certification 12 2.2 Report Structure and Assessment Process 13 2.3 Previos Assessment 13
3 THE CLIENT FISHERY ...... 15 3.1 Faroese Pelagic Organisation (FPO) - Felagið Nótaskip 15 3.2 FPO fleet structure 16 3.2.1 Finnur Fríði, Jupiter, Fagraberg 17 3.2.2 Norðborg 17 3.2.3 Saksaberg 17 3.3 FPO fishing operations 18 3.3.1 Quotas 18 3.3.2 Fishing Gear 19 3.3.3 Catches 19 3.3.4 Catch areas for Atlanto-Scandian Herring 20 3.3.5 Landing of catches 21 3.3.6 Cooperation with Research Institute 21
4 ECOSYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS...... 22
5 THE ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING STOCK ...... 25 5.1 The biology of the Atlanto-Scandian Herring stock 25 5.2 History of the Atlanto- Scandian Herring fishery 26
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5.2.1 Catches and landings 26
6 STOCK ASSESSMENT...... 29 6.1 Data source 29 6.1.1 Commercial catches 29 6.1.2 Acoustic and trawl surveys 29 6.1.3 Larvae survey 29 6.1.4 Other relevant data 30 6.2 Assessment method 30 6.3 Stock status 30 6.4 Management advice 32
7 ASSESSMENT OF ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS ...... 33 7.1 Retained species and by-catch 33 7.2 Interactions with Protected, Endangered, Threatened and Iconic species (ETP) 34 7.3 Habitat and ecosystem impacts 34 7.4 Other Fisheries Relevant to this Assessment 34
8 FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IN THE UNIT FOR CERTIFICATION...... 35 8.1 Cooperation on shared and migratory fish stocks 35 8.2 Management objectives 35 8.2.1 International level 35 8.2.2 National level 36 8.2.3 FPO level 36 8.3 Management responsibilities and interactions 37 8.3.1 International level 37 8.3.2 National level 37 8.3.3 FPO level 38 8.4 Legislation 38 8.4.1 International level 38 8.4.2 National level 38 8.4.3 FPO level 39 8.5 Consultative process 39 8.5.1 International level 39 8.5.2 National level 39 8.5.3 FPO level 39 8.6 Control and Enforcement procedures in FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery 39 8.6.1 Logbook 39 8.6.2 VMS 40
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8.6.3 Inspection at Sea 40 8.6.4 Reporting at sea 40 8.6.5 Landing Control 41
9 BACKGROUND TO THE REPORT ...... 43 9.1 Authors/Reviewers 43 9.2 Previous certification evaluations 43 9.2.1 SWOT-Analysis 44 9.3 Field Inspections 46 9.4 Stakeholder consultations 47 9.5 Assessment Criteria 48 9.6 Evaluation Techniques 52 9.7 Limit of Identification of Landings from the Fishery 53 9.7.1 Traceability 53 9.7.2 First point of landing 55 9.7.3 First Point of Sale 55 9.7.4 Eligibility to enter Chain of Custody 56 9.8 Evaluation results 57 9.9 Scope of certification 57 9.10 Pre-conditions, conditions or recommendations associated with this certification 58
10 STAKEHOLDER COMMENTS...... 59
11 OBJECTION PROCESS...... 60
12 FORMAL CONCLUSION AGREEMENT...... 61
INFORMATION SOURCES ...... 62
ENCLOSURE 1: FPO ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING FISHERY – SCORING SHEET...... 65
ENCLOSURE 2: OVERVIEW OF IDENTIFIED STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR MAIN INTERESTS IN THE ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING FISHERY ...... 67
ENCLOSURE 3: FAROESE PELAGIC ORGANISATION-MEMBER LIST ...... 70
ENCLOSURE 4: PALLET LABEL...... 71
ENCLOSURE 5: CARTON LABEL ...... 72
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ENCLOSURE 6: PEER REVIEW COMMENTS ...... 73
ENCLOSURE 7: DEFAULT SCORING COMMENT TABLE FOR FPO’S ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING FISHERY...... 91
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1 SUMMARY This report provides information on the assessment of the Færoese Pelagic Organization’s Atlanto-Scandian Herring Fisheries against the Marine Stewardship Council’s Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing. The report is prepared by Det Norske Veritas. The assessment team used the default assessment tree as defined in the MSC Fishery Assessment Methodology version 1 (FAM v1). 1.1 The Assessment team Sandhya Chaudhury , Lead Auditor, DNV Anna Kiseleva, Team Leader, DNV Eskild Kirkegaard, Expert for Principle 1 & 2 Óli Samró, Expert for Principle 3 1.2 Assessment timeline Announcement of Main Assessment: 21 May 2009 Site Visit and Stakeholder Consultation: August 2009 Expected Date of Certification: February 2010 1.3 Scores for each Principle Principle 1 95,6 PASS Principle 2 90,7 PASS Principle 3 95,1 PASS 1.4 Strength and weakness 1.4.1 Strengths The attributes of FPO that are helpful in achieving sustainability in Atlanto-Scandian Herring Fishery and thereby complying with MSC principles are: - FPO is a strong, effective, industry-based organization; - FPO has 88% of Faroese Atlanto-Scandian Herring quota - Strict adherence of members to laws, regulations and requirements; - Cooperation with Stakeholders and fishery scientists 1.4.2 Weaknesses The attributes of FPO that maybe harmful to continuing sustainability in Atlanto-Scandian Herring Fishery and to complying with MSC principles are: - No formalized registration of by-catch, beyond registration in the logbook
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- No Codex of Good Practice is yet implemented by FPO members in order to formalize good practice. However, the adoption of a “Codex for a Sustainable and Responsible Pelagic Fishery” is on the way and should be implemented in 2010. 1.5 Determination The fishery achieved a score of 80 or more for each of the three MSC Principles, and did not score under 60 for any of the set MSC Criteria. The assessment team therefore recommended the certification of the The Faroese Pelagic Organization’s Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery. 1.6 Conditions and timescales There are no conditions for this certification.
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2 INTRODUCTION This report sets out the results of the assessment of the FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring Fisheries against Marine Stewardship Council Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing. 2.1 The Unit of Certification The MSC Guidelines to Certifiers specify that the unit of certification is "The fishery or fish stock (=biologically distinct unit) combined with the fishing method/gear and practice (=vessel(s) pursuing the fish of that stock) and management framework." The fishery is not conducted under any controversial unilateral exemptions to any international agreements. The fishery does not use destructive fishing practices such as poisons or dynamite, these are illegal within the management country. The fishery proposed for certification is defined as:
Species: Herring (Clupea harengus)
Stock: Atlanto-Scandian (Norwegian Spring-Spawning) herring stock
Geographical area: North-East Atlantic (ICES sub-areas I, II, V, XIV).
Harvest method: Purse seine
Management: The fishery is managed according to the EC, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway and Russia agreement from 1997, which is implemented in Faroe Islands under National management systems and advised by ICES.
Client Group: Faroese Pelagic Organisation + vessel Saksaberg Species: Herring (Clupea harengus)
Stock: Atlanto-Scandian (Norwegian Spring-Spawning) herring stock
Geographical area: North-East Atlantic (ICES sub-areas I, II, V, XIV).
Harvest method: Pelagic trawl
Management: The fishery is managed according to the EC, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway and Russia agreement from 1997, which is implemented in Faroe Islands under National management systems and advised by ICES.
Client Group: Faroese Pelagic Organisation + vessel Saksaberg
Table 1 -Unit of Certification
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2.2 Report Structure and Assessment Process The aim of this assessment is to determine the degree of compliance of the fishery with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing, as set out in Chapter 8, Section 8.5. This report sets out: • the background to the fishery under assessment • the qualifications and experience of the team undertaking the assessment • the standard used (MSC Principles and Criteria) • stakeholder consultations carried out. Stakeholders include all those parties with an interest in the management of the fishery and include, but are not confined to, fishers, management bodies, scientists and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) • the methodology used to assess (score) the fishery against the MSC Standard. The scoring table sets out the default Scoring Indicators adopted by the assessment team and Scoring Guidelines which aid the team in allocating scores to the fishery. The comments in this table sets out the position of the fishery in relation to these Scoring Indicators. The intention of Chapters 2-7 of the report is to provide the reader with background information to interpret the scoring comments in context. Finally, as a result of the scoring, the Certification Recommendation of the assessment team is presented, together with any conditions attached to certification. In draft form, this report is subject to critical review by appropriate, independent, scientists (peer review) and public scrutiny on the MSC website. The comments of the Peer Reviewers and stakeholders are appended to the final report. The report, containing the recommendation of the assessment team, peer review comments and any further stakeholder comments is then considered by the DNV Governing Board (a panel of experts independent of the assessment team). The Governing Board then makes the final certification determination on behalf of Det Norske Veritas Certification AS (DNV). It should be noted that, in response to comments by peer reviewers, stakeholders and the DNV Governing Board, some points of clarification may be added to the final report. 2.3 Previos Assessment As it can be seen from the table below, there are currently three Atlanto-Scandian Herring fisheries undergoing assessment against MSC standard for sustainable fisheries and two fisheries are already certified.
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Fisheries under assessment Certified fisheries Pelagic Freezer-Trawler Association Danish Pelagic Producers Organisation Atlanto-Scandian herring pelagic trawl Atlanto Scandian herring Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group Ltd Norway spring spawning herring Atlanto Scandian herring Faroese Pelagic Organization Atlanto- Scandian herring Table 2 - MSC Fisheries AAtlanto Scandian Herring
DNV assessment team tried to coordinate the assessment of Faroese Pelagic Organization Atlanto-Scandian herring fishery in a way that it ensures that key assessment products and outcomes are harmonized with the earlier assessments of Danish Pelagic Producers Organisation Atlanto - Scandian herring and Norway spring spawning herring fisheries. DNV harmonization efforts included following activities: • The use of complimentary assessment trees; • The sharing of information between FPO and DPPO Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries assessments; • During stakeholder consultation and scoring meetings, DNV assessment team carefully considered evaluation, findings and scoring results of Danish Pelagic Producers Organisation Atlanto - Scandian herring and Norway spring spawning herring assessments and made every effort to achieve consistent conclusions with the above mentioned assessments. The harmonization of scoring results with fisheries undergoing assessment, Pelagic Freezer- Trawler Association Atlanto-Scandian herring pelagic trawl and Scottish Pelagic Sustainability Group Ltd Atlanto Scandian herring fisheries, was not possible due to the fact that no Public Comment Draft Reports were issued for these fisheries at the time of scoring meeting/FPO AS herring fishery evaluation. In order to ensure the consistency of outcomes and support the integrity of MSC fisheries assessments, DNV is open to share the fishery related information with other AS herring fisheries undergoing assessment against MSC standard for sustainable fisheries.
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3 THE CLIENT FISHERY 3.1 Faroese Pelagic Organisation (FPO) - Felagið Nótaskip Faroese Pelagic Organisation was founded by the first general meeting on 15th October 1976 as an organisation for owners of purse-seiners. Faroese vessels that used purse seine as fishing gear could get membership in the association. Today, all members of FPO are using both purse seine and pelagic trawl in a combination. The purpose of the organisation is to manage the interests of its members in any place where fishing is on the agenda. The organisation is managed by a committee of three members, elected on the General Assembly. Decisions taken at the General Assembly are binding for all members, including the non-member vessel Saksaberg. Failure to follow decisions taken by the FPO result in exclusion from membership. On the 1st of April 2008 the organisation established an office in Tórshavn, and the day to day administration is carried out by the General Manager, Mr. Jógvan Jespersen1. A map over the fishing areas for the Atlanto-Scandian Herring (ICES sub-areas I, II, V, XIV) for FPO members is given in the figure 1.
Figure 1- Atlanto-Scandian Herring ICES fishing areas for Faroese Pelagic Organisation.
1 Endurskoðaða lóg felagsins juni 2008
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3.2 FPO fleet structure At present (September 2009), FPO consists of the seven companies2, belonging to three business groups with total five vessels and one non-member vessel (Saksaberg) under special agreement. The members of FPO are also the members of Faroese Association of Shipowners.
Vessel Type Licenses Bt L/B m Year
Finnur Fridi Trawl/Purse 2 2790 76/15 2003 seiner
Jupiter Trawl/Purse 1 2270 70/14 1994 seiner
Trondur í Gøtu Trawl/Purse 1 New building January seiner 2010. The “old” sold in June 2009
Fagraberg Trawl/Purse 2 (including 1 2832 82/14 1999 seiner license from Høgaberg, sold June 2009)
Norðborg Processing 2 (including 1 5192 83/18 2009 license from Chr í Grótinum, sold Sept 2009)
2 See Enclosure 2 for group of companies belonging to FPO.
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Saksaberg Purse seiner 0,4 662 51/9 1973
Table 3 - Client group of vessels, as of 05.10.2009
3.2.1 Finnur Fríði, Jupiter, Fagraberg Finnur Fríði, Jupiter and Fagraberg are all combined trawl/purse-seiners with RSW-cooling tanks. The vessels are able to transport big quantities of whole round fish and keep it fresh for the long journey to the markets. 3.2.2 Norðborg Norðborg is a processing vessel, built in 2009 and taken into operation since June 2009. Norðborg is equipped with freezer capacity of 1400 tonnes frozen products in addition to 1230 m3 of RSW tank capacity, keeping open the option of landing fresh fish directly to the processors. A fishmeal plant on board can handle off-cuts from the filleting process and some 500 tonnes of fish meal and oil can be stored on board. All the production processes are optimized for maximum efficiency and high level of automation. Due to the advanced electronic registration system, the fishing, pumping and processing activities are being monitored and followed from the company head office in Klaksvik. This monitoring can be followed from anywhere, once the system is WEB based. Norðborg is expected to operate largely as a pelagic trawler, but purse seining capacity is seen as an integral part of its activity. Currently, Norðborg is engaged in directed fisheries for Atlanto-Scandian Herring, NEA mackerel, capelin, blue whiting and horse-mackerel. The processing range for Norðborg’s Atlanto-Scandian Herring varies from freezing the fish whole-round or headed and gutted to skinless fillet and flaps production. Off-cuts from the filleting process are utilized for fishmeal and fish oil. For more information on traceability see Chapter 8, Section 8.7. 3.2.3 Saksaberg The vessel Saksaberg has a special agreement as an “associated” member of the FPO. The vessel belongs to the group P/F Vinnan Gøta, the same group owns three other member vessels of FPO which are Finnur Fríði, Jupiter and Tróndur í Gøtu. Saksaberg has to follow the same rules as the member vessels, since part of its quota belongs to FPO. Saksaberg is registered in the group of “Industry trawlers”, but can only operate with purse seine. It has 1/7 of the total “industry group” quota for Atlanto-Scandian herring. An agreement has been made between FPO and P/F Gulenni, the owner of Saksaberg, that FPO’s MSC certification will include Saksaberg’s limited quota for Atlanto-Scandian Herring and NEA mackerel.
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3.3 FPO fishing operations 3.3.1 Quotas The Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries activities of the FPO vessels are regulated by the Faroese Ministry of Fisheries and Natural Resources in accordance with the joint EC, Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland and Russia Agreement. Each year, the size of the TAC is set in agreement between the parties. The Faroese quota is allocated to national fishing vessels, including the FPO vessels. Sale of licenses is controlled by the Faroese Ministry of Fisheries and Natural Recourses. The total Atlanto-Scandian Herring quota for 2009 is 1 643 000 tonnes. The Faroese share of the total TAC for Atlanto-Scandian Herring is 5.16 %, while the other parties hold the following shares: Norway (61 %), Iceland (14.51 %), The Russian Federation (12.82 %) and EC (6.51 %)3. Table 2 shows the total Faroese quota for Atlanto-Scandian Herring from 2004 to 2009.
Atlanto-Scandian Herring Tonnes 2004 66 066 2005 53 515 2006 53 061 2007 61 253 2008 69 330 2009 84 779 Table 4 Total Faroese quotas for the Atlanto-Scandian Herring, 2004-2009
FPO’s members hold around 88 percent of the entire Faroese quota for Atlanto-Scandian herring. Table 3 demonstrates how the total Faroese quota for Atlanto-Scandian herring is allocated in 2009. 74 379 tonnes out of the total Faroese quota of 84 779 tonnes belongs to the FPO members. The vessels in the “industry vessels” group are given 5400 tonnes, and the Faroese Government keeps 5000 tonnes for research and quota trade/negotiations purposes.
3 Data taken from Agreed Record of Consultations on the Management of the Norwegean Sring-Spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) Herring in the North-East Atlantic for 2009. London 13, November 2008
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Quota allocation Shares Total MT FPO-Vessels 74.379 Industry-vessels (including Saksaberg) 5.400 Research quota 1.000 Quota transfer to Greenland 4.000 Total 84.779 FPO-Vessels
Total 9,2 74.379 CHR. Í GRÓTINUM (1) 0,000278 2 FINNUR FRÍÐI 2 16.169 JUPITER 1 8.085 FAGRABERG (1) 1 8.085 NORÐBORG 2,799722 22.635 TRÓNDUR Í GØTU (1) 1 8.085 HØGABERG (1) 1 8.085
SAKSABERG 0,4 3.234 Table 5 - Faroese quota allocation for Atlanto-Scandian Herring, 20094
3.3.2 Fishing Gear All bar one FPO vessels are able to fish with either pelagic trawl or purse seine. In most of the cases the vessels use pelagic trawl, fishing operations with purse seine amount to 10%. Saksaberg is the only vessel operating exclusively with purse-seine. The fishing gears used by the vessels are fully in compliance with national fishery legislation. 3.3.3 Catches In addition to Atlanto-Scandian Herring the FPO vessels catch the following species: - North-East Atlantic mackerel (ICES sub-areas II, III, IV, V and VI) - Blue whiting (ICES sub-areas II, VI and VII, and divisions Va and Vb) - Horse mackerel (ICES sub-areas VI, VII)
4Internal documents FPO, www.notaskip.fo
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- Capelin (ICES sub-area I and division Va) The catches of capelin depend on annual bilateral agreements between Faroe Islands and Iceland and Faroe Islands and Norway. During 2008 FPO vessels caught 330 140 MT of fish, where blue whiting was the main species caught. In 2009 the quota for blue whiting has been reduced significantly and the Atlanto-Scandian Herring is the most caught species. 2008 Horse- Autumn Blue Mac ke- mac ke- Red- Sp. AS Total w hiting Herring rel Capelin rel fish Herring Herring Others tonnes
CHRISTIAN Í GRÓTINUM 26.812 3.384 4 6.657 36.856 FAGRABERG 35.095 1.811 5 181 8.741 1.480 47.313 FINNUR FRÍÐI 35.425 2 2.204 3.957 3 14.721 500 56.812 HØGABERG 17.627 466 2.585 107 6.307 177 27.268 JUPITER 26.647 1.445 7.392 135 35.619 NORÐBORG 18.529 1.233 5 14.577 34.344 SAKSABERG 1.060 308 2.684 600 4.302 8.953 TRÓNDUR Í GØTU 25.159 1.558 46 7.671 34.434 Total ( tonnes) 224.612 3.085 11.289 10.458 841 293 600 74.261 4.702 330.140
2009 Jan ‐ Sept Horse- Autumn Blue Mac ke- mac ke- Red- Sp. AS Total w hiting Herring rel Capelin rel fish Herring Herring Others tonnes
FAGRABERG 10.934 12 50 9.362 1.001 21.358 FINNUR FRÍÐI 6.753 41 0 10.615 333 17.741 HØGABERG (sold) 3.476 740 4.216 JUPITER 4.734 586 6 6.801 297 12.424 NORÐBORG 4.543 1.650 80 6.273 NORÐBORG (sold) 500 13 2 8.520 9.035 SAKSABERG 2.536 4 928 2.545 6.013 TRÓNDUR Í GØTU (sold) 8.655 2.143 1.358 12.156 Total ( tonnes) 50.506 3.791 656 58 928 41.635 5.159 102.732 Table 6 - FPO catch composition, 2008 and Jan-Sep of 2009 (data 30. Sept)5
3.3.4 Catch areas for Atlanto-Scandian Herring As each FPO vessel is allocated an annual quota, the skipper has the option to fish whenever he chooses within those areas for which the fleet is authorised to fish. In practice, during the last 3-5 years the fishing activities for Atlanto-Scandian Herring run from May until ultimo August in Faroese, Icelandic and International waters. In early autumn the herring stock
5 Faroese Inspection Authorities www.fve.fo
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moves further to the east and from September until January the fisheries take place in international and Norwegian waters. See figure 2.
Catching areas - months
September - januar
Mai-august
Figure 2 - Main catch areas for Atlanto-Scandian Herring by periods of the year.
3.3.5 Landing of catches The choice of landing point is made on the basis of market proximity and price – with market price being the single most important determining factor. Thus vessels may land in EU in addition to Norway and Faroe Islands. In practice, the major part of FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring catches are landed in Norway and sold through Norges Sildesalgslag (Norwegian fish auction). Only very limited part of the catches are sold directly to processing plants in Denmark (Skagen), Shetland (Lerwick), Scotland (Peterhead) and Iceland (Neskapusstaður). None of the FPO members are engaged in transhipment at sea. 3.3.6 Cooperation with Research Institute Through many years the FPO vessels have been cooperating with the Faroese Research Institute. In some projects the institute has rented the vessels, in others there have been scientists onboard doing own research while the vessel has been fishing commercially. In July 2009, 3 FPO vessels participated in Research Projects initiated by Faroese Ministry of Fisheries in co-operation with Faroese Research Institute.
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4 ECOSYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS The following paragraph is based on information provided by ICES (ICES, 2008a) and Skjoldal (Skjoldal, 2004).
Figure 3 - Norwegian Sea surface current pattern. Red lines indicate warm currents, blue lines indicate cold currents and green lines show low salinity coastal water (ICES, 2008a).
The North Atlantic Current transports warm and high salinity waters eastward from the Northwest Atlantic to the Northeast Atlantic mainly through the Faroe–Shetland Channel. The major part of the waters continues northward as the Norwegian Atlantic Current along the Norwegian shelf, but parts of it branches into the North Sea. In the Norwegian Sea low salinity coastal current flows from the North Sea in the south along the Norwegian coast into the Barents Sea. Relative cold, low salinity arctic water flows south along Greenland’s east coast into the western Norwegian Sea. The sea surface temperature has, since early 1980s, increased by up to 3° C (ICES, 2007). The Norwegian Sea has an area of 1.1 million km2 and an average depth of about 2000 m. The Norwegian Sea is divided into two separate basins with 3000 m to 4000 m depth, with a maximum depth of 4020 m. Along the Norwegian coast there is a relatively narrow continental shelf, between 40 and 200 km wide, and with varied topography and geology. It has a relatively level sea bottom with depths between 100 and 400 m.
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Figure 4 - Simplified diagram of the food web in the Norwegian Sea (Skjoldal, 2004).
The most important groups of phytoplankton are the diatoms and flagellates. The primary production peaks in spring. The zooplankton community is dominated by large calenoid copepods and euphausids (krill) both important prey species groups for herring. In the Norwegian Sea, fish communities are dominated by large quantities of pelagic species, notably mackerel (Scomber scombrus), blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) and herring (Clupea harengus). All three stocks are widely distributed and are also found in the neighbouring seas. Because of the size of the three stocks they must be expected to have major influences on the ecosystem. Studies on this subject have, however, only been carried out to a limited degree and are mainly of a descriptive character. In the Barents Sea capelin is the dominant pelagic species along with the (predominantly) juvenile NSS herring. There is also a variety of commercially important demersal species of which are large quantities of NE Arctic cod (SSB2009 c. 600 000 t) and NE Arctic haddock. The most important commercial demersal species are cod (Gadus morhua), haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) and saithe (Pollachius virens). The demersal species are in general connected to the eastern shelf area and mainly present in the Norwegian Sea during spawning. The fish then migrate back to the Barents Sea for feeding. The fry, also in general, drift out of the Norwegian Sea and into the Barents Sea. As compared to the pelagic species the demersal stocks must accordingly be regarded as less significant for the Norwegian Sea ecosystem as a whole. Barrett et al. (Barrett et. al., 2002) estimated that about 6.1 million seabirds breed along the Norwegian coast of the Norwegian Sea. In addition about 270 000 pairs breed on Jan Mayen, large numbers of northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) are spread over most of the Norwegian Sea throughout the year, and a similarly large number of little auks (Alle alle) winter breeding in the Barents Sea along the Norwegian coast. The total consumption by all marine birds in the Norwegian Sea was estimated by Barrett et. al. (Barrett et. al., 2002) to be nearly 680 000 tonnes.
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The most recent estimates of abundance suggest that there are approximately 600 000 harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) and 70 000 hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) in the North East Atlantic (ICES 2007). Harp seals feed primarily on zooplankton (krill and amphipods) and pelagic fish such as polar cod (Boreogadus saida) and capelin (Mallotus villosus), whereas hooded seals feed on squid, polar cod and benthic fish species such as redfish (Sebastes spp.) and Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides). The Norwegian Sea has abundant stocks of whales feeding on plankton, pelagic fishes and Cephalopods. Large whales visit the area in summer while representatives of the smaller toothed whales stay there all year around.
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5 THE ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING STOCK The Atlanto-Scandian herring stock has its distribution area in the Norwegian Sea, the Barents Sea, and the Norwegian coastal waters in the North Sea south to 59ºN. During long periods it has also been found north of Iceland during the summer (Holst et al., 2004). 5.1 The biology of the Atlanto-Scandian Herring stock The Atlanto-Scandian Herring spawn along the Norwegian continental shelf. The eggs, which adhere to the bottom, hatch into larvae that drift with the northwards current along the coast. Juvenile herrings are found in the coastal areas of the northern Norwegian Sea and southern Barents Sea. There seems to be a co-relation between temperature and year class strength. Strong year classes are normally associated with warm conditions. The juvenile herring remains in the coastal waters of the Barents Sea for three to five years before they join the adult part of the stock.
Figure 5 - Schematic illustration of variation in the migration pattern of Atlanto-Scandian herring since 1950s (ICES, 2008b).
As illustrated in figure 5, the annual migration pattern for the adult herring has varied substantially since 1950’s. In recent years the spent herring migrate westwards, after spawning, into Faroese and Icelandic waters (ICES, 2009). When reaching the cold polar
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waters in the western Norwegian Sea they turn and migrate north-eastwards to the northern Norwegian Sea. In autumn they return and stay over winter in the Lofoten area. Atlanto-Scandian Herring feed primarily on copepods (mainly Calanus finmarchicus), krill and amphipods (see fig. 4). The herring migration pattern after spawning until overwintering is a feeding migration, where the herring search for areas with high production of Calanus and the change over time in the migration pattern is linked to the size of the herring stock. A large population of herring needs to search a larger area for food than a small population. During the 1970’s, when the stock was at a very low level, it did not show any seasonal feeding migration but stayed in Norwegian coastal waters (see fig. 5). In recent years an increasing proportion of the population has been feeding in Icelandic and Faroese waters. Herring is one of the main prey species for a number of predators including fish species such as cod and saithe, marine mammals and sea birds. 5.2 History of the Atlanto- Scandian Herring fishery 5.2.1 Catches and landings
Figure 6 - Total international catches of Atlanto-Scandian herring (ICES, WGWIDE, 2008).
The total international catches of Atlanto-Scandian Herring from 1907 to 2007 as estimated by ICES is shown in figure 6. Catches increased from app. 200 000 t in the beginning of the 20th century to almost 2 million t in 1966. In the following years the stock declined rapidly and the fishery collapsed. From 1971 to 1994 catches were below 250 000 t. The strong 1983 year class was the start of the recovery of the stock and from 1994 the catches started to increase again reaching 1. 2 million t in 1996. After some years with catches below 1 million tonnes there has been an increase in the most recent years and catches were, in 2007, again above 1.2 million t. The seasonal distribution of catches taken in 2007 is shown in figure 7
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(ICES, 2008c). The increased proportion of the herring feeding in Icelandic and Faroese waters in recent years has affected the fishery and a significant proportion of the catches were taken in these waters in 2007.
Figure 7 - Seasonal distribution of catches by area ICES (2008c).
Historically, herring were caught by drift-net and purse-seines. The development of the power block (Kristjonsson, 1968) enabled purse-seines to operate large gears and the increase in the Norwegian and Icelandic purse-seine fleets were responsible for the large increase in landings in the 1960’s and the subsequent collapse of the stock and the fishery. The Atlanto-Scandian Herring is today exploited by fishing vessels from EU (Denmark, France, Germany, Nederland, Sweden, Poland and UK), Faroe Island, Iceland, Norway and Russia. The main gears used in the fishery are pelagic trawl and purse-seine.
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Spawning Stock Biomass
16000 14000 12000 t 10000 SSB 1000 8000 in Blim 6000 SSB 4000 Bpa 2000 0 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Figure 8 - Estimated spawning stock biomass of Norwegian spring-spawning herring (SSB) 1950–2008 (ICES, 2009).
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6 STOCK ASSESSMENT The information on stock assessment is mainly from ICES (2009a). 6.1 Data source There are three main data sources for Atlanto-Scandian herring: • commercial catches, • acoustic and trawl surveys • larvae surveys. 6.1.1 Commercial catches The data from the commercial fishery consists of weight of landings by country, fleet, area and month. The commercial landings used by ICES in the assessment are obtained from national laboratories of nations exploiting Atlanto-Scandian Herring. The catch data used by ICES in the stock assessment does not include estimates of discards or unallocated catches. ICES has no accessible data to estimate possible discards of herring. Although discarding may occur on this stock, ICES considers it to be low. Therefore the assessment team considers discards to be a minor problem to the assessment. Biological information (numbers, weight, catch at age and relative age composition) of the catch are obtained by sampling of commercial landings. Sampled catches accounted in 2007 for 94% of the total catches. Except for division XIVa catches sampled accounted for more than 90% of the catches taken in each area. The total catches in division XIVa were less than 4% of the total international catches. 6.1.2 Acoustic and trawl surveys Two surveys have been carried out in recent years and used in the assessment. The international ecosystem summer survey in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea is a trawl- acoustic survey. It focuses on herring and blue whiting. The estimated abundance of age groups 4 and older from the area west of 20°E from 1991 to 2009 were used in the assessment as tuning indices for age groups 4 to 15+. Results from the Barents Sea were used to estimate the size of the recruiting year classes (age groups 1 and 2). The survey is considered the most important for the assessment of the surveys. The joint Russian-Norwegian ecosystem autumn survey is a combined trawl and acoustic survey. It provides input to the assessment on size of recruiting year classes and data from the survey was used as tuning index for age group 0. 6.1.3 Larvae survey A Norwegian herring larvae survey has been carried out on the Norwegian shelf in March – April since 1981. The larvae indices obtained from the survey are used as indicator of the size of the spawning stock.
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6.1.4 Other relevant data Tagging of herring has been carried out annually between 1997 and 2007. The programme was discontinued in 2008. Data has not been used in the assessment since 2006. 6.2 Assessment method The virtual population analysis (VPA) is used for the assessment. The natural mortality rate is set to 0.15. A benchmark assessment was conducted in 2008. The term benchmark refers to a stock assessment that is the result of an intense process to decide on the most appropriate scientifically defensible methodology taking account of biological knowledge, available data and management needs. Retrospective analysis indicates that the assessment underestimates the stock size and overestimates the fishing mortality rates in the most recent years. ICES considers the assessment to give a reliable estimate of the state of the stock and to be of sufficient quality to form the basis for providing short term catch forecast and advice on fishing possibilities for the coming year. 6.3 Stock status Based on the most recent estimates of SSB (in 2009) ICES classifies the stock as having full reproduction capacity. Based on the most recent estimate of fishing mortality (in 2008) ICES classifies the stock as harvested sustainably. (ICES, 2009b). SSB in 2009 is estimated to be above 13 mill. tonnes, which is well above all reference points and the highest observed since 1950. This makes the stock one of the biggest in world fisheries. The stock contains a number of good year classes. In the last 10 years four large year classes have been produced (1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004). However, the available information indicates that year classes born after 2004 have been small. Fishing mortality is estimated by ICES to be lower than Fpa. An outbreak of Ichthyophonus (a fungal disease) was observed in the Icelandic summer- spawning herring in autumn 2008, where around 32% of the fishable stock was estimated to be infected (ICES 2009c) with the corresponding increase in M. This outbreak continued in summer 2009. The part of the Icelandic summer-spawning herring stock that feeds on the continental shelf off eastern Iceland, mix with Norwegian spring-spawning herring feeding there. However, neither of the stocks caught in the area in June 2009 were infected and there is no indication of an infection in the Atlanto-Scandian Herring stock and Ichthyophonus infection is therefore not an issue at the moment. A summary of the stock status is given in figure 8.
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Landings
2500
2000 t
1000
1500 in
1000
Landings 500
0 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Fishing Mortality
4.0 3.5 14)
‐ 3.0 5
2.5 (ages 2.0 F 1.5 Fpa 1.0 weighted
F 0.5 0.0 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Recruitment (age 0)
800 700 600 billions 500 in
400 300 200
Recruitment 100 0 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Spawning Stock Biomass
16000 14000 12000 t 10000 SSB 1000 8000 in Blim 6000 SSB 4000 Bpa 2000 0 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Figure 9 - Stock summary of Atlanto-Scandian herring: landings, fishing mortality, recruitment, and SSB. Data prior to 1988 are from the 2006 assessment year. (ICES, 2009b)
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6.4 Management advice The management advice by ICES is provided in accordance with the management plan agreed by the EC, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway, and Russia6. The management plan was agreed in 1999. The objective is to maintain the spawning stock biomass (SSB) at levels greater than 2.5 million t (Blim). The plan includes a harvest control rule for setting the TACs. According to the harvest control rule the TACs shall be based on a target fishing mortality for adult herring of less than 0.125. If the SSB falls below 5 million t (Bpa), the target fishing mortality shall be adopted on the basis of at least a linear reduction in the fishing mortality rate from 0.125 at Bpa to 0.05 at Blim. The biological reference points advised by ICES are shown in table 5. The reference points are unchanged since 1998. The management plan is based on the reference points. Bmsy has not been defined by ICES. The MSC guidance states that Bmsy as a default assumption is equal to 40% of B0 and Blim equal to 50 % of Bmsy. ICES advise Blim equal to 2.5 million tonnes. This indicates a Bmsy in the order of 5 million tonnes. However, ICES advises that Bpa is equal to 5 million tonnes. The current spawning stock is estimated to be above 13 million tonnes. Type Value Technical basis
Blim 2.5 million t MBAL
Precautionary Bpa 5.0 million t Blim * exp(0.4*1.645). approach Flim not defined -
Fpa 0.15 based on medium-term simulations.
Targets Fmgt <0.125 Management Plan. Table 7 - Biological reference points for Atlanto-Scandian Herring advised by ICES (ICES, 2009b)
The management plan implies maximum catches of 1 438 000 t in 2010, which is expected to leave a spawning stock of 10.8 million tonnes in 2011. The TAC for 2009 was set at 1.643 Mt.
6 For more information see chapter 7.
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7 ASSESSMENT OF ECOSYSTEM INTERACTIONS 7.1 Retained species and by-catch The Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery conducted by the FPO vessels can be classified as single species fisheries with herring as the target species and small by-catches of mackerel, saithe, blue whiting and redfish. For all practical purposes it is not possible to sort the catches by species on board and the by-catches are all landed and therefore in accordance with MSC definition classified as retained species. FPO vessels are obliged to register by-catches in the log-book Because it is not possible to sort the catch on board the registration in the log-book of catches of retained species is based on the crews best judgement. By-catches of saithe and blue whiting may occur throughout the fishing season while catches of redfish are mainly observed late in the year when the herring is found in the northern part of its area of distribution. Mackerel is mainly caught during the summer and the Faroese fishery for Atlanto-Scandian Herring north of the Faroes has in recent years been hampered by large amounts of mackerel present in the same area and often mixed within the herring schools in the upper layers. To avoid the mackerel the Faroese vessels had to move northwards out of the Faroese area in late July and August. By-catch of mackerel is a legal activity but the vessels try to avoided by-catch of mackerel in the herring fishery because the mackerel is deducted from the vessels mackerel quota and the marketing value of mackerel is very low in the summer months. According to the FPO discarding and slipping happens very rarely and has not taken place in recent years. This was supported at the visits of the assessment team at the Faroese Fisheries Inspection and The Faroe Marine Research Institute. Both Institutions confirmed that to their knowledge discarding and slipping were rare in the FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery. Most of the FPO herring catches are landed in Norway and Denmark. After the vessel has landed the catch is sorted at the processing factory. Retained species are sorted out but not always recorded by species. In many cases retained species may be recorded together with the herring that has been sorted out as spoiled. Officially reported quantities of retained species may therefore be an underestimate. No quantitative information on retained species was available to the assessment team, but according to the FPO vessels catches of retained species is insignificant. This was confirmed to the assessment team by the Faroese Fisheries Inspection and The Faroe Marine Research Institute. The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) has expressed concern about salmon by-catch in high-seas pelagic trawl fisheries and asked ICES to keep the matter under annual review. Although relatively little information is available on by-catches of salmon in high-sea fisheries there is no indication that the Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery constitute a threat to the salmon (ICES, 2007c and ICES, 2008d). Small catches of salmon were recorded by research vessels by pelagic trawling and from commercial catches in Norwegian Sea in 2006. In 2007, no salmon were recorded from commercial landings and only one post-smolt was taken by a Norwegian research vessel.
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7.2 Interactions with Protected, Endangered, Threatened and Iconic species (ETP) The interaction between the FPO Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries and ETP species are considered to be very limited. No by-catch data on ETP species is available for the FPO vessels. According to the FPO skippers no marine mammal has been caught by their vessels and by-catch of sea birds is extremely rare. 7.3 Habitat and ecosystem impacts As described in section 2.2 there is no physical contact between the pelagic trawls and purse- seines operated by the FPO vessels and the sea bed and therefore the impact of the FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery on the habitat is negligible. Atlanto-Scandian Herring is one of the main predators on zooplankton in the Norwegian Sea and is itself an important prey for a large number of top predators (Skjoldal et al., 2004). Because of the size of the stock it most likely has a major impact on the ecosystem. The main impact of the herring fishery on the ecosystem is therefore believed to be the indirect effect of the removal of the target species may have on the prey and predator species. However, the stock is exploited sustainable with a fishing mortality that is less than the natural mortality. The indirect effect on the ecosystem of the removal of the herring can therefore be considered insignificant. However, very few studies have been conducted on the subject and it is not possible to quantify the interaction between the FPO fishery, the Atlanto-Scandian Herring stock and the Norwegian Sea ecosystem (see chapter 3 and Skjoldal et. al., 2004)). 7.4 Other Fisheries Relevant to this Assessment The quota allocated to the Faroe Islands is 84 779 t out of the total allowable catch of 1 643 000 t in 2009. The remaining quota is taken by EU vessels (Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherland, Poland, Sweden and UK), Iceland, Norway and Russia. Norway is with 61% of the TAC the main player in this fishery. Iceland has 15% and Russia 13%. Thus it is these fisheries that have the greatest potential effect on the stock. All recorded landings of Atlanto-Scandian Herring including bycatches of herring in other fisheries such as fisheries for mackerel and blue whiting are counted against the Faroese quota.
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8 FISHERIES MANAGEMENT IN THE UNIT FOR CERTIFICATION 8.1 Cooperation on shared and migratory fish stocks The fishery for Atlanto-Scandian Herring takes place in Faroese Fisheries zone, EU fisheries zone, Norwegian fisheries zone and international waters. Managing and conserving the fish stock is therefore a shared responsibility requiring close international cooperation between all relevant nations in the region. The fishery of the large and economically important stock of Atlanto-Scandian Herring is managed through international arrangements which provide the Faroe Islands, as a coastal state, with an agreed share of the TAC. The allocation of shares between the relevant coastal states is based on factors including fishing history, the extent to which the stock occur and can be fished commercially in national waters, the level of dependency on fisheries, as well as contribution to scientific research on the stock. Faroese national shares are allocated to vessels in the form of quotas in accordance with these agreements. Bilateral agreements between the coastal States provide access for the coastal State vessels to fish in each others zones. Zonal and seasonal flexibility ensure an optimal and responsible utilisation of resources, in both biological and economic terms. Fishing for Atlanto-Scandian herring in international waters is regulated through measures adopted by the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), based on the management arrangements agreed between the coastal States. 8.2 Management objectives There are well-defined and measurable short and long term management objectives for the FPO Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries which are consistent with MSC Principles. These objectives are: 8.2.1 International level At the international level the long-term management objectives for the Atlanto-Scandian herring stock are agreed by the EC, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway and Russia (Agreement of 1999, updated agreement was reached in 2006). The long-term management objectives agreed upon by the coastal states are: • Every effort shall be made to maintain a level of Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) greater than the critical level (Blim) of 2 500 000 t. • Fishing shall be restricted on the basis of a TAC consistent with a fishing mortality rate of less than 0.125 for appropriate age groups as defined by ICES, unless future scientific advice requires modification of this fishing mortality rate.
• Should the SSB fall below a reference point of 5 000 000 t (Bpa), the fishing mortality rate, shall be adapted in the light of scientific estimates of the conditions to ensure a safe and rapid recovery of the SSB to a level in excess of 5 000 000 t. The basis for
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such an adaptation should be at least a linear reduction in the fishing mortality rate from 0.125 at Bpa (5 000 000 t) to 0.05 at Blim (2 500 000 t). The short term management objective for 2009 is a TAC of 1 643 000 tonnes. The sharing between the parties is agreed on an annual level and no long-term agreement exists on the sharing of the TAC between the parties. In 2003 – 2005 no coastal States sharing agreement was reached and the parties quotas were set unilateral or bilateral. For 2009 the TAC was allocated as follows:
Country Tonnes EU 106 959 Faroe Islands 84 779 Iceland 238 399 Norway 1 002 230 Russian Federation 210 633 Total 1 643 000 Table 8 - The share of Atlanto-Scandian Herring quota
In bilateral agreements between the parties fishing vessels are provided access to their respective EEZs. Within the framework of the above five party arrangement the Faroe Islands is granted access to fish 80 061 tonnes of herring in areas under Norwegian fisheries jurisdiction north of 62ºN of which a maximum of 67 224 tonnes may be fished in the Norwegian Economic Zone. Norway is granted access to fish 38 508 tonnes of herring in the Faroese Fisheries Zone in 2009. 8.2.2 National level The objective of Faroese fisheries management is to conserve and utilise marine fish stocks in order to ensure biological and economic sustainability and secure optimal socio-economic benefits from fisheries. Marine resources in Faroese waters and those to which the Faroe Islands have rights through bilateral and international agreements are by law the property of the Faroese people and shall be managed for the public good7. 8.2.3 FPO level The short and long-term management objectives at the FPO/vessel level are to keep the annual Atlanto-Scandian Herring catches of FPO vessels at (or below) the levels specified in the individual vessel permits (fishing licences issued by Faroese Ministry on Fisheries and Natural Resources) and ensure compliance with all permit terms that applies to the Atlanto-
7 Faroese Ministry of Fisheries. Information Note. 31 August 2007.
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Scandian Herring fisheries. Further to that the FPO is engaged in preparation of a Code of Conduct for sustainable fishing which will be aiming at achieving the outcomes expressed by the MSC Principle 1 and 2. The Codex is expected to be adopted by FPO by the end of 2009 and the content of the document will be verified during the first surveillance audit. 8.3 Management responsibilities and interactions 8.3.1 International level At the international level, the responsibility for the setting of the annual TACs for Atlanto- Scandian Herring in accordance with the agreed long-term objective, rests with the European Union, Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation. The TACs are set in annual negotiations between these parties in accordance with the agreed management plan and based on best scientific advice provided by ICES. The responsibility for Monitoring, Control and Surveillance of the Atlanto-Scandian herring fishery rests with the coastal states in their EEZ and in international waters in accordance with the NEAFC Scheme for Control and Enforcement (February 2008). 8.3.2 National level 1. Faroese Ministry of Fisheries and Natural Resources The Ministry of Fisheries and Natural Resources (Fiskimálaráðnum) is responsible for the management of all fisheries in Faroese waters and fisheries by Faroese vessels in other waters, including quota up-take of Atlanto-Scandian herring. The framework for the regulation of commercial fisheries, both in home, foreign and international waters, is the Commercial Fisheries Act of 1994 and its subsequent amendments. Based on this legislation, detailed regulations are implemented governing vessel and fishing licences, area closures, gear and data requirements and other technical regulations for commercial fisheries. 2. Faroese Fisheries Inspection Fiskiveiðueftirlitið (The Faroese Fisheries Inspection) has the overall responsibility for fisheries control in Faroe Islands. It includes administrative control of catches and landings, quota uptake and prohibition of fishing, along with carrying out control of landings, which also include quality checks and control of the trading of fish. 3. Faroe Marine Research Institute The Faroe Marine Research Institute is a governmental institute which conducts marine researches and provides the Government of the Faroe Islands with scientific advice based on its research on marine resources and the environment. The aim of the research is to provide a basis for responsible exploitation of the marine resources around the Faroe Islands. Assessments are made of the most important fish stocks, including the Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery. These assessments are based on investigations, independent of the industry, which are carried out by the research vessel, Magnus Heinason, e.g. 0-group surveys, bottom trawls surveys and acoustic surveys, in addition to catch and effort statistics from the commercial fleet (FMRI, www.frs.fo).
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8.3.3 FPO level The ultimate responsibility for compliance with the regulations established for the Atlanto- Scandian herring fisheries rests with the individual permit holder (vessel). The formal role of the FPO in fisheries management is to represent the members in relevant stakeholder fora. In late 2009 FPO is expected to adopt a “Codex for a Sustainable and Responsible Pelagic Fishery”. 8.4 Legislation The management system in place for the FPO Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries incorporates the following legal instruments: 8.4.1 International level 1. NEAFC Convention of 1982 with amendments (2004 and 2006) known as “New Convention”. The Convention sets the overall institutional framework for the coastal states’ agreement on the Atlanto-Scandian fish stock and its exploitation. 2. NEAFC Scheme of Control and Enforcement (1998) with amendments (February 2008) 3. NEAFC Recommendations on conservation and management measures of Atlanto- Scandian herring in the Convention area in 2008 (NEAFC Recommendation VI, 2008) 4. Agreement (1999) on fisheries between the European Economic Community, the Kingdom of Denmark (on behalf of the Faroe Islands), the Republic of Iceland, Norway and the Russian Federation with implementation details specified in “Conclusions of fisheries consultations on the management of the Atlanto-Scandian herring stock in the North-East Atlantic for 2009 (November 2008). 5. Bilateral agreements between the parties fishing vessels providing access to their respective EEZs. 8.4.2 National level The legislative framework for the regulation of all commercial fisheries, including fisheries for Atlanto-Scandian Herring by Faroese vessels operating in ICES areas I, II and XIV, is the Commercial Fisheries Act of 1994. The Act states that the living marine resources in the EEZ and Faroese allocations in waters outside the Faroese fisheries zone are the property of the Faroese people and that these fisheries should be sustainable in both biological and economic terms. Access to the Atlanto-Scandian Herring fisheries for Faroese vessels is regulated by fishing licenses issued by Faroese Ministry of Fisheries and Natural Resources. The fishing license specifies the details of fishing activities (effort, quota and area limitations) in which the vessel is permitted to participate, as well as outlining the requirement for reporting the catch data and information on landings.
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8.4.3 FPO level Felagið Notaskip was established in October 1976 (Internal regulation October 1976 and updated June 2008) By the end of 2009 FPO will adopt a “Codex for a Sustainable and Responsible Pelagic Fishery”. The legal basis (all elements) of this Codex should be consistent with and actively cater to sustainable fisheries in accordance with MSC Principles 1 and 2. There are, to the knowledge of the assessment team, no legal rights on people dependent on fishing for food and livelihood that applies to the FPO Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries. 8.5 Consultative process The Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries management system, at all levels, includes consultations with stakeholders on important management matters. Consultation fora and areas for consultations relevant to FPO herring fisheries include: 8.5.1 International level ICES There is a formal process established for obtaining scientific advice on Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries management. All ICES reports are publicly available. Coastal States EC, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway and Russian Federation have annual consultations related to the Coastal State agreement. The consultation process is informal, but NGO’s are invited to attend meetings as observers. 8.5.2 National level The Ministry of Fisheries and Natural Resources consults with Advisory Committee on Commercial Fisheries in the development of proposals for regulations. Advisory Committee on Commercial Fisheries consist of 10-12 persons which represent the most relevant stakeholders in Faroese fishing industry. Proposals and regulations are posted on the Ministry’s web pages and open to the public interest. 8.5.3 FPO level FPO is a sub-division of Faroese Vessel Owners Association (FVOA), which organises vessel owners in the Faroe Islands. FPO and FVOA are recognised as experts to the Faroese Government on national and international matters related to management of the Atlanto - Scandian Herring fisheries. 8.6 Control and Enforcement procedures in FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery 8.6.1 Logbook Faroese commercial fishing vessels, operating in the North East Atlantic, must maintain a daily log of their activities in an authorised catch logbook issued for this purpose. The master
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of the vessel must ensure that the vessel details, gear and catch details are accurately recorded and sign the logbook every day, regardless of whether or not fishing takes place on that day. The logbook contains numbered pages in triplicate which are referred to as log sheets. Original copies of log sheets must be returned to Faroese Fisheries Authorities no later than 1 day after landing in Faroe Islands and 2-3 days if landing takes place outside Faroe Islands. 8.6.2 VMS All vessels larger than 15 GT must have satellite vessel monitoring system in both national and international waters. The satellite vessel monitoring system (VMS) is mandatory for all vessels fishing for Atlanto-Scandian Herring. 8.6.3 Inspection at Sea All the coastal countries have inspection vessels doing random and risk based inspections at sea. The inspectors have the permission to board the vessel and check fishing activities, gear used, logbook data, catch composition etc. Fisheries control in Faroese EEZ is carried out by the Faroese and Danish Coast Guard. The fisheries inspectors may inspect any fishing vessel operating within the national fisheries jurisdiction as well as all fishing vessels flying the Faroese flag and operating in waters outside the national jurisdiction. 8.6.4 Reporting at sea Faroese vessels engaged in Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery shall give pre-notification to the respective authorities8 prior to start of fishing activities, end of fishing activities and landing. In addition to that, when crossing the coastal states borders, the master of the Faroese vessel shall inform the Faroese Fisheries inspection prior to entry and exit. Pre-notifications are sent by masters of the vessel by e-mail or fax and contain at the minimum the following information: Entry Notification - Start of fishing (date and time) - Area of fishing (coordinates) Exit Notification - End of fishing (date and time) - Catch (each haul should also be registered in the logbook) .Landing Notification - Time of landing
8 Faroese Fisheries authorities if fishing in the Faroe Islands EEZ or international waters. Faroese Fisheries authorities and Norwegian Fisheries authorities if fishing in Norwegian EEZ or in Jan Mayen waters. Faroese Fisheries authorities and EU authorities (Brussel) if fishing in EU EEZ. Due to the new requirement which entered into force from 1 st of August 2009, the EU waters can be entered from three control zones only.
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- Place of landing The authorities evaluate every pre notification and make a decision on whether the vessel should be inspected or not. 8.6.5 Landing Control Faroese Fisheries Inspection is responsible for insuring that all landings of AS herring made by vessels flying the Faroese flag are in accordance with Faroese quota for stock and are properly recorded and verified. The legislation requires that all vessels landing fish, both in Faroe Islands and outside, submit logbooks accompanied by sales notes/ landing notes shortly after landing. In order to ensure that the correct quantities are deducted from fishing quotas, the Faroese Fisheries Inspection conducts a cross-check analysis on the catch – sale data received. If one of the Faroese vessels accidently exceeds its allocated quota, the following procedure would apply. Within three days the master/owner of the vessel should make a decision on weather to: • Transfer/buy quota from another vessel that has unfished quota • Or reduce quota for the next fishing year According to Faroese Fisheries Inspection, the level of compliance in Faroese AS Herring fishery is generally high. Landed catches almost never differ more than 5% from what is reported in the logbook/allocated to the vessel. The monitoring of landings follows a set of general procedures. • Inspection and inspectors takes samples and are monitor part of the landings. • If landing take place outside the Faroe Islands, the same information is sent to the local inspection authorities (example in Norway). The information includes o species and quantity o landing Harbour o customer (buyer of the fish) information • For landings abroad, the Faroese inspectors can, and are sometimes doing inspections. They may be on the spot to take samples and monitor the landings together with the local inspectors. The local inspectors sample and monitor according to bilateral and international agreements. To minimize the risk of undeclared landings, Faroese vessels are not allowed to land fish in any harbour before the skipper has informed the Faroese and the local inspection authorities. Landings to non-Faroese port are under bilateral and international agreements. The monitoring procedures follow coastal and international agreements • For fishing in International waters: The Coastal state agreement (Need reference)
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• EU-waters: Bilateral agreement between EU and the Faroe Islands (Need reference) • Norwegian waters: Bilateral agreement between Norway and the Faroe Islands (Need reference)
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9 BACKGROUND TO THE REPORT 9.1 Authors/Reviewers The evaluation has been performed by the following: DNV team: Anna Kiseleva (Team Leader DNV, Business Assurance): M.Sc. in International Fisheries Management from Tromsø University, M.Sc. in Business Management from Russian State Academy of Fishery. Seven years experience in Fisheries including management systems and seafood trade. Extensive knowledge in fish quality standards and eco-labeling of seafood products. Has been a member of several assessment teams for MSC Fishery certifications since 2008. Sandhya Chaudhury (Lead Auditor DNV, Business Assurance): B.Sc., MBA. Has worked in various MSC Pre-assessment and Full assessments since 2005. Participated in MSC workshops in Ghana, Gambia and Sri Lanka, introducing certification methodology for MSC Fisheries and Chain and custody to workshop participants. Auditor experience with other quality management standards for fish since 2002. Industry experience since 1991. Rolf Petter Hancke (DNV, Business Assurance) M.Sc in Offshore Engineering (aquaculture and fishing technology). 6 years experience in modelling and implementing traceability systems, mainly in the seafood industry. Independent specialists: Eskild Kirkegård (Principle 1 & 2 expert): M. Sc in Marine Biology and Chemistry. Vice- director at the Technical University of Denmark. National Institute for Aquatic Resources of work: Co-ordinate advice on fisheries management. Member of a number of Working Groups and Committees under the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Member of the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) of the European Commission. Chairman of ICES’ Advisory Committee on Fishery Management 1993 – 1995 (ACFM). Member of several research evaluation panels. Eskild Kirkegård has previously worked as full assessment expert as well as peer reviewer in the MSC Fishery assessment process. Óli Samró (Principle 3 expert): Since 2002 Óli Samró has been Chairman of the Advisory board of the Faroese fisheries management system for Ground fish. Appointed by the Faroese Fishery Minister, two times in four years. Óli Samró is a Senior consultant with 18 Years experience in consulting in Fisheries Business and Management and has studied economics at Aarhus University. Óli has worked for Føroya Banki and is now a consultant with FAREC dealing in expert consultancy in Fisheries Management, Economy, EU and fish & Business- development. 9.2 Previous certification evaluations No pre-assessment was conducted for the fishery undergoing full-assessment. However, some internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable towards obtaining MSC
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certification were evaluated prior to commencement of full-assessment and FPO has been advised of the potential obstacles and risks that may be a barrier to certification. 9.2.1 SWOT-Analysis
Helpful to achieving the MSC Harmful to achieving the certification MSC certification
Internal origin Strength Weaknesses (attributes of the organization) Attributes of FPO that are helpful Attributes of FPO that are to achieve sustainability in Atlanto- harmful to achieve Scandian Herring Fishery and meet sustainability in Atlanto- MSC principles: Scandian Herring Fishery and meet MSC principles:
- FPO is a strong, effective, - No formalized registration industry-based organisation; of by-catch, beyond registration in the logbook - Scope of fishery (FPO has 88%
of Faroese Atlanto-Scandian - No Codex of Good Herring quota) Practice is implemented by FPO members in order to - Strict adherence of members to formalize compliance with laws, regulations and MSC principles and requirements; criteria for sustainable - Cooperation with fishing. Stakeholders and fishery scientists
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Helpful to achieving the MSC Harmful to achieving the certification MSC certification External origin Opportunities Threats (attributes of the environment) External conditions that are helpful External conditions that are to achieve sustainability in Atlanto- harmful to achieve Scandian Herring Fishery and meet sustainability in Atlanto- MSC principles Scandian Herring Fishery and meet MSC principles - Healthy fish population and natural environment; - Possible slipping if the - Fishery managed according to catch is bigger than the ICES advice, where ICES holding capacity onboard; Working Group on Northern - Possible slipping if the Pelagic and Blue Whiting catch is of undesired Fisheries monitors the status of quality. the stock annually; - Quota allocation between - The TAC is being adjusted the countries is based on annually in accordance with political negotiations, not development of the stock; strictly on sustainability - The precautionary principle, as concerns. well as the related biomass and - Absence of fishing mortality are firmly data\information on how embedded in the EU/Norway the climate change can /Iceland/Faroe Island and affect the Atlanto- Russian Federation agreement. Scandiann herring fishery. - Availability of information\openness; - Low rate of by-catch of non- target species - Low discard rate; - Interactions between Atlanto- Scandian herring fishery with rare or protected species considered to be exceptional.
Table 9 - Preliminary SWOT- analysis conducted prior to commencement of FPO’s Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery full-assessment
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9.3 Field Inspections The following field visits were carried out:
Name Affiliation Date Key Issues Jógvan Jespersen Initial meeting - FPO April Planning of full assessment 2009
Jógvan Jespersen Site visit -FPO 10.08.09 FPO fishing operations; Bogi Jacobsen Status of the stock; Jón Rasmussen By-catch, habitats and ecosystem; Høgni Hansen Fisheries management; Pól Huus Sólstein FPO management system; System of tracing and tracking of fish. Ulla S. Wang Faroese Ministry of 11.08.09 Management system review; Fisheries Janet S. Nørregaard Management system transparency; Decision making process; Martin Kruse Faroese Fisheries 11.08.09 Performance of the harvest Inspection strategy; Johan Simonsen By-catch, discards and slipping; Control, Enforcement and Surveillance; Respect for laws; Dispute mechanisms.
Hjalti í Jákupsstovu Havstovan – Faroe 11.08.09 Status of the stock; Marine Research Høgni Debes Harvest strategy; Institute Target and limit reference points; Information and Monitoring; Assessment methods; Impact of fisheries on ecosystem.
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9.4 Stakeholder consultations Several stakeholders have been identified and contacted in connection with the assessment of Faroese Pelagic Organization. A full list of all stakeholders is given in Enclosure 1. Information was also made publicly available at the following stages of the assessment:
Date Information Media 21.05.2009 Notification of Full assessment Direct E-mail/letter Notification on MSC website 02.06.2009 Notification of Assessment Team Direct E-mail Notification on MSC website 23.06.2009 Confirmation of Assessment Team Direct E-mail Notification on MSC website 23.06.2009 Announcement of default assessment Direct E-mail tree Notification on MSC website 23.06.2009 Notification of assessment visit and Direct E-mail call for meeting requests Notification on MSC website 27.07.2009 Advertisement of certification + Advertisement on www.intrafish.com Invitation to contribute to assessment process 28.07.2009 Advertisement of certification + Advertisement in Dimmalætting, Faroe Invitation to contribute to assessment Islands process 28.07.2009 Notification on assessment Direct E-mail coordinator variation Notification on MSC website 04.08.2009 Advertisement of certification + Advertisement in Dimmalætting, Faroe Invitation to contribute to assessment Islands process 24.09.2009 Notification of Proposed Peer Direct E-mail Reviewers Notification on MSC website 12.10.2009 Confirmation of Proposed Peer Direct E-mail Reviewers Notification on MSC website Notification of Public Comment Direct E-mail Draft Report Notification on MSC website Notification of Final Report Direct E-mail Notification on MSC website
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9.5 Assessment Criteria The basis for the MSC-certification is the standard denoted as the “MSC Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fisheries”, organized in three main principles. Principle 1 concentrates on the need to maintain the target stock at a sustainable level; Principle 2 draws attention to maintaining the ecosystem in which the target stock exists, and Principle 3 addresses the requirement for an effective fishery management system in order to fulfill Principles 1 and 2. In addition Principle 3 takes into account national and international regulations. The Principles 1-3, with pertaining criteria, are presented below: PRINCIPLE NUMBER 1 A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery9: Intent: The intent of this principle is to ensure that the productive capacities of resources are maintained at high levels and are not sacrificed in favour of short term interests. Thus, exploited populations would be maintained at high levels of abundance designed to retain their productivity, provide margins of safety for error and uncertainty, and restore and retain their capacities for yields over the long term. Criteria: 1. The fishery shall be conducted at catch levels that continually maintain the high productivity of the target population(s) and associated ecological community relative to its potential productivity. 2. Where the exploited populations are depleted, the fishery will be executed such that recovery and rebuilding is allowed to occur to a specified level consistent with the precautionary approach and the ability of the populations to produce long-term potential yields within a specified time frame. 3. Fishing is conducted in a manner that does not alter the age or genetic structure or sex composition to a degree that impairs reproductive capacity. PRINCIPLE NUMBER 2 Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends.
9 The sequence in which the Principles and Criteria appear does not represent a ranking of their significance, but is rather intended to provide a logical guide to certifiers when assessing a fishery. The criteria by which the MSC Principles will be implemented will be reviewed and revised as appropriate in light of relevant new information, technologies and additional consultations.
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Intent: The intent of this principle is to encourage the management of fisheries from an ecosystem perspective under a system designed to assess and restrain the impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem. Criteria: 1. The fishery is conducted in a way that maintains natural functional relationships among species and should not lead to tropic cascades or ecosystem state changes. 2. The fishery is conducted in a manner that does not threaten biological diversity at the genetic, species or population levels and avoids or minimises mortality of, or injuries to endangered, threatened or protected species. 3. Where exploited populations are depleted, the fishery will be executed such that recovery and rebuilding is allowed to occur to a specified level within specified time frames, consistent with the precautionary approach and considering the ability of the population to produce long-term potential yields. PRINCIPLE NUMBER 3: The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable. Intent: The intent of this principle is to ensure that there is an institutional and operational framework for implementing Principles 1 and 2, appropriate to the size and scale of the fishery. Part A: Management System Criteria 1. The fishery shall not be conducted under a controversial unilateral exemption to an international agreement. The management system shall: 2. Demonstrate clear long-term objectives consistent with MSC Principles and Criteria and contain a consultative process that is transparent and involves all interested and affected parties so as to consider all relevant information, including local knowledge. The impact of fishery management decisions on all those who depend on the fishery for their livelihoods, including, but not confined to subsistence, artisanal, and fishing- dependent communities shall be addressed as part of this process. 3. Be appropriate to the cultural context, scale and intensity of the fishery – reflecting specific objectives, incorporating operational criteria, containing procedures for implementation and a process for monitoring and evaluating performance and acting on findings. 4. Observe the legal and customary rights and long term interests of people dependent on fishing for food and livelihood, in a manner consistent with ecological sustainability.
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5. Incorporates an appropriate mechanism for the resolution of disputes arising within the system10. 6. Provide economic and social incentives that contribute to sustainable fishing and shall not operate with subsidies that contribute to unsustainable fishing. 7. Act in a timely and adaptive fashion on the basis of the best available information using a precautionary approach particularly when dealing with scientific uncertainty. 8. Incorporate a research plan – appropriate to the scale and intensity of the fishery – that addresses the information needs of management and provides for the dissemination of research results to all interested parties in a timely fashion. 9. Require that assessments of the biological status of the resource and impacts of the fishery have been and are periodically conducted. 10. Specify measures and strategies that demonstrably control the degree of exploitation of the resource, including, but not limited to: Setting catch levels that will maintain the target population and ecological community’s high productivity relative to its potential productivity, and account for the non-target species (or size, age, sex) captured and landed in association with, or as a consequence of, fishing for target species. Identifying appropriate fishing methods that minimise adverse impacts on habitat, especially in critical or sensitive zones such as spawning and nursery areas. Providing for the recovery and rebuilding of depleted fish populations to specified levels within specified time frames. Mechanisms in place to limit or close fisheries when designated catch limits are reached. Establishing no-take zones where appropriate. 11. Contains appropriate procedures for effective compliance, monitoring, control, surveillance and enforcement which ensure that established limits to exploitation are not exceeded and specifies corrective actions to be taken in the event that they are. Part B: Operational Criteria Fishing operation shall: 12. Make use of fishing gear and practices designed to avoid the capture of non-target species (and non-target size, age, and/or sex of the target species); minimise mortality of this catch where it cannot be avoided, and reduce discards of what cannot be released alive.
10 Outstanding disputes of substantial magnitude involving a significant number of interests will normally disqualify a fishery from certification.
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13. Implement appropriate fishing methods designed to minimise adverse impacts on habitat, especially in critical or sensitive zones such as spawning and nursery areas. 14. Not use destructive fishing practices such as fishing with poisons or explosives. 15. Minimise operational waste such as lost fishing gear, oil spills, on-board spoilage of catch, etc. 16. Be conducted in compliance with the fishery management system and all legal and administrative requirements. 17. Assist and co-operate with management authorities in the collection of catch, discard, and other information of importance to effective management of the resources and the fishery. The MSC Principles and Criteria presented above set the requirements for the fishery that undergoes certification. MSC’s certification methodology is based on a structured hierarchy of Sub-criteria and Performance indicators. The overall performance is decided on the basis of the scoring criteria that the fishery gets during assessment. These sub-criteria and performance indicators have been developed by the MSC in the form of a default assessment tree. When a fishery is evaluated the performance indicators (normally specific statements or questions) are checked out, and each performance indicator has three different “scoring guideposts” that can be defined. MSC characterizes these scoring points as follows: Perfect practice, representing the level of performance that would be expected in a theoretically ‘perfect’ fishery (100 points). Exemplary or best practice (80 points). Minimum sustainable practice (60 points). An overview of the assessment methodology is given in Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries Assessment Methodology and Guidance to Certification Bodies. This guidance illustrates how the MSC Principles and Criteria give a basis for sub-criteria and performance indicators defined by DNV, resulting in various scores for the fishery.
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Figure 10 - The assessment tree for MSC: A hierarchy
9.6 Evaluation Techniques Site visits to the fishery are performed by the certification body (here DNV) and the assessment team and consultations are done with interested stakeholders. The performance indicators and the pertaining scoring systems are evaluated, and it is judged if the fishery meets the requirements for MSC certification. In order to fulfil the requirements for certification the following minimum scores are required: The fishery must obtain a score of 80 or more for each of the three MSC Principles, based on the weighted aggregate scores for all Performance Indicators under each Criterion in each Principle. The fishery must obtain a score of 60 or more for each Performance Indicator under each Criterion in each Principle. Even though a fishery fulfils the criteria for certification, there may still be some important potential risks to future sustainability that are revealed during assessment. These are performance indicators that score less than 80, but more than 60. In order to be granted a
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MSC fishery certificate the client must agree to do some further improvements regarding these points. The certification body (here DNV) sets a timescale for the fishery to improve the relevant areas, so that the certification process can continue. Default performance indicators and the scorings allocated in the evaluation are given in the enclosure. 9.7 Limit of Identification of Landings from the Fishery 9.7.1 Traceability RSW vessels All information on catches is recorded by skippers and entered in the logbooks on daily basis. At landing the fish is weighed and sales notes providing information on the type of species, size and weight are issued. According to Faroese regulations sales notes and logbooks shall be submitted to Faroese Authorities no later than one day after landing when landing in Faroese ports and two to three days when landing outside Faroe Islands. For vessels landing in Norway the same documentation shall be submitted both to Norwegian and Faroese Authorities. All data from logbooks and sales notes are cross-checked by Fisheries Authorities. When the quota limit is being approached the Faroese Fisheries Inspection send notification to the respective vessel. Norðborg: at-sea processing As a processing boat, Norðborg is being exposed to additional requirements to traceability and control from Faroese Fisheries Authorities than RSW vessels. Firstly, when landing the vessel is subject to the same control and reporting requirements as the RSW vessels, i.e. sale notes accompanied by respective log-book shall be submitted to Faroese Authorities within one day after landing. Secondly, since the Norðborg is the first in its class, processing vessel in Faroe Islands11, able to produce fish meal and fish oil from off-cuts from the filleting process, it is subject to an extensive control from Faroese Fisheries inspection. During its first fishing trip Nordberg had an inspector from Faroese Fisheries Authorities on board, who controlled all catch/processing activities. The conclusion reached by the authorities was that Norðborg is a processing vessel with a high level of traceability and all products landed are in accordance with actual catches and allocated quota. Since Norðborg takes the majority of its catches in Norwegian waters, the Faroese Ministry of Fisheries decided to use Norwegian conversion factors established by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries when converting landings of processed herring to whole herring. The processed Atlanto-Scandian Herring landed by Norðborg varies from frozen whole-round or headed and gutted fish to skinless fillet and flap production. Atlanto-Scandian Herring is
11 Faroe Business Report 2008, p 39.
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the only herring stock for which Norðborg has a quota and no herring from other stocks is caught or processed on board Norðborg. Therefore there is no risk of substitution of non- certified herring with the Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery. It should also be noted that due to the advanced electronic registration system installed on- board the fishing, pumping and processing activities are being monitored, registered and followed from the company head office in Klaksvik. This monitoring and registration will be available from other places once the electronic registration system is WEB based. To ensure full traceability, fish products from Norðborg are packed and automatically labelled on board of the vessel. Each carton is assigned a label with a unique pack number in addition to data providing information on12: - Producer - Country of origin - Catching area - Product - Size - Net weight - Shelf life - Vessel - Production date - Unique pack number - Pr. Lot Cartons are packed on pallets which are also labelled and assigned a bar-code. Labels on the pallets provide following data: - Producer - Country of origin - Product - Size - Pr. Lot - Production date - Shelf life - Units - Unique pallet number + bar code
12 See enclosure 3 for Pallet label and enclosure 4 for carton label.
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All products are sold unpacked from pallets and not as single cartons. Advanced system of labelling helps the owners of Norðborg to ensure full-traceability and enable their buyers to trace the product back to the date of catch, haul nr, catch area etc. 9.7.2 First point of landing RSW vessels As defined in Section 2.3, the choice of landing point for RSW vessels is made on the basis of market proximity and price – with market price being the single most important determining factor. Thus vessels may land in EU (e.g. Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, Netherland, France) in addition to Norway and Faroe Islands. Norðborg: at sea processing Atlanto-Scandian Herring fish products from Norðborg are landed in Faroe Islands at EU approved13 cold store “Frystihúsið í Ánunum”14. From there the fish is being sold to France, Poland, Belarus, Russia, the Baltic Countries and China or transferred to Poland and Latvia. Fish meal and fish oil are landed separately at the Faroese fish feed factory, where it’s being weighed and quantities are being reported to the Faroese Fisheries Inspection. 9.7.3 First Point of Sale RSW vessels The major part of FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring catches are landed in Norway and sold through Norges Sildesalgslag (Norwegian fish auction). Only a limited part of the catches is sold directly to processing plants in Denmark (Skagen), Shetland (Lerwick), Scotland (Peterhead) and Iceland (Neskapusstaður), where factory weights are registered and approved by the authorities in the country of landing. Norðborg: at sea processing Currently, there are 3 points of sale for Norðborg: 1. Sold from cold store “Frystihúsið í Ánunum”, Faroe Islands 2. Sold from cold store, Poland 3. Sold from cold store in Klaipeda, Latvia. Product sales from cold store “Frystihúsið í Ánunum” are aimed at buyers who purchase large volumes of Atlanto-Scandian Herring. The fish and fish products sold from the cold stores in Latvia and Poland are aimed at small- volume buyers. Fish products are transported from the EU-approved cold store (Frystihúsið í
13 To be able to export fish and fish products to the European Union, Faroese and Norwegian fish plants, factory vessels, freezer vessels and cold stores have to be approved according to two EU-directives on food safety (Directive 2001/127/EEC and Directive 91/493/EEC). 14 Frystihúsið í Ánunum is owned by Group Klaksvik and is the primary cold store for landings for Norðborg. However if this cold store is fully loaded the fish from Norðborg could be landed at another cold store in Faroe Islands, where the same procedures for landing control would apply.
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Ánunum) in Faroe Islands, where all landings are being checked and recorded by Faroese Authorities to the cold stores in Latvia and Poland as a property of the fishing company Hvalnes, owner of vessel Norðborg and member of FPO. From there the products are sold to the customers. Documentation stated below follows transfer from Faroe Islands to EU and provides all necessary information needed in order to legally import fish and fish products to EU: - Pro-forma invoice, signed by Faroese custom authorities, - EUR 1. movement certificate (certificate of origin), signed by Faroese custom authorities, - Bill of lading - Ship Manifest 9.7.4 Eligibility to enter Chain of Custody RSW vessels The extent of the fishery certification for FPO RSW vessels engaged in Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery is the landing of the fresh and chilled whole round fish at ports where registration of landings is carried out and weights registered. Chain of custody for all the 5 FPO boats including Norðborg as well as Saksaberg will therefore commence following the sale of fresh, chilled whole round fish at point of landing (auction or processing plant). For RSW vessels and any fish sold through auction the auction houses are included in the fishery certificate but processing plants will require separate Chain of Custody certification
Norðborg: at-sea processing The extent of the fishery certification for FPO vessel Norðborg’s processing activities of Atlanto-Scandian Herring is the landing of frozen fish products – whole-round herring, headed and gutted herring, skinless fillet and herring flaps at the first point of landing which is the cold store Frystihúsið ín Ánunum. Fish meal and fish oil are not eligible to enter further chain of custody. Chain of custody for Norðborg’s processed products of frozen Atlanto-Scandian Herring products – whole-round herring, headed and gutted herring, skinless fillet and herring flaps will therefore commence at first point of landing at cold store15 in Faroe Islands.
15 Frystihúsið í Ánunum is owned by Group Klaksvik and is the primary cold store for landings for Norðborg. However if this cold store is fully loaded the fish from Norðborg could be landed at another cold store in Faroe Islands, where the same procedures for landing control would apply.
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THE TARGET ELIGIBILITY DATE RSW vessels The target eligibility date for Atlanto-Scandian Herring products from FPO RSW vessels (as and when certified) to bear the MSC label is confirmed as 26th October 2009. Norðborg: at-sea processing The target eligibility date for Atlanto-Scandian Herring products from Norðborg processing vessel (as and when certified) to bear the MSC label is confirmed as 26th October 2009. 9.8 Evaluation results Tables showing the relevant indicators and scoring guideposts for the assessment are found in enclosure. Observations, weighting applied and scores are presented together with references to the sources of information. The performance of The Faroese Pelagic Organisation in relation to the MSC Principles 1, 2 and 3 is summarized as follows:
MSC Principle: Performance of FPO: Principle 1: Sustainability and Exploited stock Score: 95,6 PASS
Principle 2: Ecosystem Score: 90.7 PASS
Principle 3: Effective Management System Score: 95.1 PASS
The fishery achieved a score of 80 or more for each of the three MSC Principles, and did not score under 60 for any of the set MSC Criteria. The assessment team has therefore reached the following determination: It is recommended that The Faroese Pelagic Organization’s Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery is certified according to the Marine Stewardship Council Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fisheries. 9.9 Scope of certification This assessment relates only to the fishery defined in Section 1.1 up to the point of landing as defined in Section 8.7. Monitoring and control of fishing locations and methods is considered sufficient to ensure fish and fish products invoiced as such by the fishery originate from within the evaluated fishery. Accordingly, the assessment team recommends a fishery certificate.
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9.10 Pre-conditions, conditions or recommendations associated with this certification Pre Conditions: the fishery attained a score of 80 or more against each of the MSC Principles and did not score less than 60 against any MSC Criteria. No pre-conditions are therefore required prior to certification being granted. Conditions: The fishery attained a score of 80 or more against each of the MSC Principles and did not score less than 80 against any MSC Criteria. No conditions are therefore required prior to certification being granted. Recommendations: 1. There is infrequent discarding and slipping of catches in the Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery. Such occurrences, both in mid-water trawling and in purse seining, must be regarded as mortality. Suggestions that slippage from purse-seine does not generate mass mortality has not been scientifically proven, indeed the opposite is true. Even though the practice is regarded as infrequent there is an opportunity for FPO vessels to provide useful data to the ICES WG. The practice of recording slippage should be re-enforced by inclusion in the CODEX which is about to be published. The CODEX should: a) totally discourage high grading, discarding and slippage through a firm instruction prohibiting it within the code. b) when, for whatever reason (e.g. safety) slippage or discarding has to occur then the quantities are estimated and reported to the relevant national scientific body for the data to be included in the stock assessment process.
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10 STAKEHOLDER COMMENTS No stakeholder comments to the Public Comment Draft Report were received within the required 30 day stakeholder consultancy period.
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11 OBJECTION PROCESS
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12 FORMAL CONCLUSION AGREEMENT
On behalf of FAROESE PELAGIC ORGANISATION (Felagið Nótaskip), I accept Preliminary Draft Report regarding FPO’s Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery assessment against MSC Fishery standard for sustainable fisheries and confirm that information on FPO’s fishing activities and scope of certification is up to date and correct.
Signed Position …………………….Date………
On behalf of FAROESE PELAGIC ORGANISATION (Felagið Nótaskip), I accept Preliminary Draft Report regarding FPO’s Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery assessment against MSC Fishery standard for sustainable fisheries and confirm that information on FPO’s fishing activities and scope of certification, including the additional of Norðborg’s point of landing of fresh, chilled fish as specified on 18.11.2009, is up to date and correct.
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INFORMATION SOURCES Information used in the main assessment has been obtained from interviews and correspondence with stakeholders in the fisheries, notably: I1. Client (Faroese Pelagic Organisation) and member representatives I2. Faroese Ministry of Fisheries I3. Faroese Fisheries Inspection I4. Faroe Marine Research Institute
REFERENCES 13 ACOM, 2008b. Norwegian spring-spawning herring. ICES Advice, 2008, Book 9: 9.4.5. 14 Agreed Record of Consultations on the Management of the Norwegean Sring-Spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) Herring in the North-East Atlantic for 2009. London 13, November 2008 15 Agreed Record of conclusions of Fisheries consultations on the management of the Norwegian spring-spawning (Atlanto-Scandian) Herring stock in the North-East Atlantic for 2009 16 Barrett, R.T., Anker-Nilssen, T., Gabrielsen, G.W. and Chapdelaine, G. 2002. Food consumption by seabirds in Norwegian waters. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 59: 43–57.) 17 Commission Decision: 2004/864/EC. 18 Council Regulation: 657/2000/EC. 19 Council decision on the establishment of Regional Advisory Councils: 2004/585/EC. 20 Council regulation: 2371/2002/EC – Framework regulation for common fisheries policy, Chapter 1, Article 2. 21 EC Council Regulation No 43/2009 of 16 January 22 EU Common Fisheries Policy (Council Regulation (EC) No 2371/2002 of 20 December 2002 on the conservation and sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources under the Common Fisheries Policy) with supporting regulations and action plans. 23 Faroe Islands and EU Bilateral Agreements. 24 Faroe Islands and Iceland Bilateral Agreements. 25 Faroe Islands and Norway Bilateral Agreements. 26 Faroe Islands and Russia Bilateral Agreements. 27 Faroe Marine Research Institute web-pages: www.frc.fo 28 Faroese Inspection web-pages: www.fve.fo 29 Faroese Ministry of Fisheries. Information Note. 31 August 2007
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30 Faroese fishing licenses 31 ICES, 2007a. The Annual ICES Ocean Climate Status Summary 2006. ICES Cooperative Research Report, No. 289. 59 pp.) 32 ICES, 2007b. Report of the Joint ICES/NAFO Working Group on Harp and Hooded Seals, ICES HQ, Copenhagen, Denmark, 12-16 June. 2006. ICES CM 2007 / ACFM: 6: 29 pp.). 33 ICES, 2007c. Report of the Working Group on Working Group on North Atlantic Salmon. 34 ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management ICES CM 2007/ACFM:13) 35 ICES, 2008a. Report of the ICES Advisory Committee, 2008. ICES Advice, 2009. Book 3. 36 ICES, 2008c. Report of the Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks. ICES CM 2008/ACOM:13 37 ICES, 2008d. Report of the Working Group on North Atlantic Salmon. ICES CM 2008/ACOM:18. 38 ICES, 2009a. Report of the Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks. ICES CM 2009/ACOM:13 39 ICES, 2009b. Norwegian spring-spawning herring. ICES Advice, 2009, Book 9: 9.4.5. 40 ICES, 2009c. Report of the North Western Working Group (NWWG), 29 April - 5 May 2009, ICES Headquarters, Copenhagen. ICES CM 2009\ACOM:04. 655 pp. 41 Internal documents FPO, www.notaskip.fo 42 Jens Christian Holst, Ingolf Røttingen and Webjørn Melle, 2004. In Skjoldal, H.R. (ed.) The Norwegian Sea Ecosystem. Tapir Academic Press, Trondheim, Norway. ISBN 82–519– 1841–3. 43 Kristjonsson, H. 1968. Modern Fishing Gear of the World. London: Fishing News (Books) Ltd 44 Law N 28 of Faroese Fisheries, Faroe Parliament 10 mach 1994. 45 Meeting dates and minutes from The Commercial Fisheries Committee: http://fd.fvm.dk/Erhvervsfiskeriudvalget 46 Meeting dates, agendas and minutes from meetings in the Pelagic RAC: http://www.pelagic-rac.org 47 Meeting dates, work programme and minutes from meetings in ACFA: http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/governance/acfa_en.htm 48 NEAFC Control and Enforcement Scheme, February 2008. 49 NEAFC Convention of 1982.
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50 NEAFC Recommendations on conservation and management measures of Atlanto- Scandian herring in the Convention area. Recommendation VI, 2008 51 NEAFC recommendation N VI, 2009 52 NEAFC recommendation N VI, 2009, 53 NEAFC “New Convention” (1982 with amendments in 2004 and 2006) 54 Napier, I.R., A. Robb and J. Holst (2002). Investigation of Pelagic Discarding. Final Report. EU Study Contract Report 99/071. Lerwick & Aberdeen: North Atlantic Fisheries College & Fisheries Research Services. 55 Skjoldal, 2004. An introduction to the Norwegian Sea ecosystem. In Skjoldal, H.R. (ed.) The Norwegian Sea Ecosystem. Tapir Academic Press, Trondheim, Norway. ISBN 82–519– 1841–3. 56 Skjoldal, H.R., P. Dalpadado and A. Dommasnes, 2004. Food webs and trophical interactions. In Skjoldal, H.R. (ed.) The Norwegian Sea Ecosystem. Tapir Academic Press, Trondheim, Norway. ISBN 82–519–1841–3.
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ENCLOSURE 1: FPO ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING FISHERY – SCORING SHEET
Overall weighted Principle-level scores Either Or Principle 1 - Target species Stock rebuilding PI not scored 95,0 Stock rebuilding PI scored 78,8 Principle 2 - Ecosystem 93,3 Principle 3 - Management 95,6
Prin- Wt Component Wt PI Performance Indicator (PI) Wt Weight ciple (L1) (L2) No. (L3) in Principle Score Either Or One 1 Outcome 0,5 1.1.1 Stock status 0,5 0,25 0,333 0,1667 100 1.1.2 Reference points 0,5 0,25 0,333 0,1667 95 1.1.3 Stock rebuilding 0,333 0,1667 Management 0,5 1.2.1 Harvest strategy 0,25 0,125 95 1.2.2 Harvest control rules & tools 0,25 0,125 90 1.2.3 Information & monitoring 0,25 0,125 90 1.2.4 Assessment of stock status 0,25 0,125 95 Two 1 Retained 0,2 2.1.1 Outcome 0,333 0,0667 80 species 2.1.2 Management 0,333 0,0667 80 2.1.3 Information 0,333 0,0667 80 Bycatch 0,2 2.2.1 Outcome 0,333 0,0667 100 species 2.2.2 Management 0,333 0,0667 100
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2.2.3 Information 0,333 0,0667 90 ETP species 0,2 2.3.1 Outcome 0,333 0,0667 100 2.3.2 Management 0,333 0,0667 100 2.3.3 Information 0,333 0,0667 100 Habitats 0,2 2.4.1 Outcome 0,333 0,0667 100 2.4.2 Management 0,333 0,0667 100 2.4.3 Information 0,333 0,0667 100 Ecosystem 0,2 2.5.1 Outcome 0,333 0,0667 100 2.5.2 Management 0,333 0,0667 80 2.5.3 Information 0,333 0,0667 90 Three 1 Governance 0,5 3.1.1 Legal & customary framework 0,25 0,125 85 and policy Consultation, roles & 0,25 3.1.2 responsibilities 0,125 100 3.1.3 Long term objectives 0,25 0,125 100 3.1.4 Incentives for sustainable fishing 0,25 0,125 100 Fishery 0,5 3.2.1 Fishery specific objectives 0,2 0,1 90 specific 3.2.2 Decision making processes 0,2 management 0,1 100 system 3.2.3 Compliance & enforcement 0,2 0,1 95 3.2.4 Research plan 0,2 0,1 100 Management performance 0,2 3.2.5 evaluation 0,1 90
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ENCLOSURE 2: OVERVIEW OF IDENTIFIED STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR MAIN INTERESTS IN THE ATLANTO- SCANDIAN HERRING FISHERY
Stakeholders Date of Geographical Main interests in regard to Main tasks in regard to Faroese Homepage establishment Faroese Atlanto-Scandian Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery Coverage Herring fishery Faroese Ministry of Faroe Islands The Ministry provides a www.fisk.fo Fisheries and Natural framework for:
Resources -development and growth in the food sector -a responsible stewardship of the natural resources Faroese Fisheries Faroese Fishery - To keep ccommercial herring - Give service to the Ministry of www.fve.fo Inspection fishery balanced, economically Fisheries;
healthy and sustainable; - Inspect and control fishing
- To maintain recreational activities fishing. - Make statistics on fisheries The Pelagic Regional 2005 EU Fishery - To insure integrated and - prepare and provide advice on the www.pelagic-rac.org Advisory Council sustainable management of management of pelagic fish stocks,
pelagic fisheries based on the i.e. blue whiting, herring, mackerel
ecosystem approach and the and horse mackerel on behalf of precautionary principle. the fisheries sector and other stakeholders.
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Stakeholders Date of Geographical Main interests in regard to Main tasks in regard to Faroese Homepage establishment Coverage Faroese Atlanto-Scandian Atlanto-Scandian Herring Herring fishery fishery
WWF 1961 Global Fishery - To promote sustainability of - Promotion of seafood that is www.wwf.dk fisheries certified by the Marine www.panda.org Stewardship Council (MSC).
Faroe Marine Research Faroe Islands The main task is to carry out the www.frs.fo Institute research of the marine resources
harvested by Faroese fishermen.
NSRAC 2004 Atlanto- - To work towards integrated - Prepare and provide advice on www.nsrac.org and sustainable management the management of the fisheries Scandian Fishery of fisheries in the wider of the Atlanto-Scandian on context of the sustainability of behalf of stakeholders in order the marine environment. to promote the objectives of the Common Fisheries Policy. ICES 1902 North Atlantic - Sustainable use of living - coordinate and promote www.ices.dk marine resources and marine research in the NA Fishery protection of marine - serve as a prime source of
environment. advice on the marine ecosystem to governments and international regulatory bodies.
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Stakeholders Date of Geographical Main interests in regard to Main tasks in regard to Faroese Homepage establishment Coverage Faroese Atlanto-Scandian Atlanto-Scandian Herring Herring fishery fishery NEAFC Conservation and sustainable -maintain the rational www.neafc.org exploitation of fish stocks in NE use of marine biodiversity in the north east Atlantic. Atlantic. NSS 1927 Norwegian - economic interest in all first- - through organised first hand www.sildelaget.no Fishery, hand sales of pelagic fish in sales to obtain good prices and (Fish Auction / Norges the northeast Atlantic. good terms of payment in Sildesalgslag) North-East respect of the fish species; Atlantic Fishery - take part in product and market development, production distribution or export sales when considered appropriate. The Norwegian Norwegian - rational exploitation of fish - analyses, statistics and advice; www.fiskeridir.no Directorate of Fisheries Fishery stocks in the Atlantic and - regulative work and regulation Arctic Oceans (Fiskeridirekoratet) planning development; - implement political decisions; -process applications and appeals; -conduct monitoring and control.
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ENCLOSURE 3: FAROESE PELAGIC ORGANISATION-MEMBER LIST
Group/Company Vessel BT NT Fishing gear
Group Klaksvík Christian í Grótinum Christian í Grótinum 2.351 1.134 Purse Seine/Pelagic Trawl Hvalnes Norðborg 5.192 1.558 Purse Seine/Pelagic Trawl
Group Toftir Framherji Fagraberg 2.832 849 Purse Seine/Pelagic Trawl Framherji Høgaberg 2.056 616 Purse Seine/Pelagic Trawl
Group Gøta Krossbrekka Finnur Fríði 2.790 840 Purse Seine/Pelagic Trawl Varðin Tróndur í Gøtu 2.172 792 Purse Seine/Pelagic Trawl Driftin Jupiter 1.384 416 Purse Seine/Pelagic Trawl
Gulenni Saksaberg 662 220 Purse Seine
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ENCLOSURE 4: PALLET LABEL
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ENCLOSURE 5: CARTON LABEL
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ENCLOSURE 6: PEER REVIEW COMMENTS
Peer Review A
Overall Assessment When undertaking an assessment such as this there is always a balance to be struck between writing something that is technically concise but opaque to the non-technical reader or something that is crystal clear but too long. In this instance the authors have produced a report that is both clear and concise but in many places they have gone too far and omitted essential information. There is little doubt that when a stock is in as robust condition as is the case in this instance, there must be a high expectation that it will meet the criteria for MSC certification. This does not absolve the assessors, however, from ensuring that all the relevant and essential information is laid before the reader. In this instance the assessment team expect the reader to take too much on trust. In Principle 1 the aggregation, collation, analysis and interpretation of stock-assessment data is treated superficially. We are told there are various surveys in support of the assessments but are not enlightened as to how these data are used. We are told that with such a huge stock there is little uncertainty about the assessment but has it been tested? A similar approach is taken under Principle 2 with respect to the role this vast stock plays in the environment. Despite the considerable ecosystem modelling that has been carried out in the NE Atlantic (much of it reported within the ICES literature) we are told little more than ‘not much has been done, little is known but it all appears ok’. It’s not good enough. The principle omission under Principle 3 is lack of detail of how enforcement is actually applied, what the level of compliance is and how is this performance is monitored. Although each of these criticisms highlight significant shortcomings in the report, they are easily rectified and once done, there should be little doubt that the final conclusion is correct and this fishery can go forward for certification.
Client Report Abbreviations There never was such a thing as the European Community (EC), it was the European Communities comprising the EEC, the European Iron & Coal Federation and at least one other (Eurtom -EAEA?). The European Union (EU) is the political entity comprising the member states represented either by the Council of Ministers or the Commission for the European Communities – CEC, typically abbreviated to EC. Action: EC changed to European Commission.
GT omitted from list the list of abbreviations. Action: GT as Gross Tonnage is added to the list of abbreviations
Table 2 – and related text.: Many people will read this table at 66(decimal point)066 tonnes etc; i.e. << 100 t whereas I assume it is 66 thousand and sixty six tonnes etc. If it is the former, why bother with the assessment? If the latter, it would be better to display the numbers as “66(space)066”.
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Action: Changed all numbers in the text and table to the standard “66(space)066”
2.3 Fishing Gear “All FPO vessels use pelagic trawl and purse seine combined.” I suggest that this is changed to: ‘All bar one FPO vessels are able to fish with either pelagic trawl or purse seine. In most cases---’. Action: Text amended to: All bar one FPO vessels are able to fish with either pelagic trawl or purse seine
3 Ecosystem Not all potential readers will be familiar with European common names for fish, birds or mammals (‘cod’, for example, is the common name for a multiplicity of species worldwide). I recommend following the convention of giving the scientific name on first mention. Action: Text amended to: In the Norwegian Sea, fish communities are dominated by large quantities of pelagic species, notably mackerel (Scomber scombrus), blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) and herring (Clupea harengus).
4.2.1 Catches & landings p 22: “The development of the power block enabled purse seines to operate large gears and the increase---”. Some readers might appreciate a reference to this key event in pelagic fishing history. Action: (Kristjonsson, 1968) included as reference.
5 Stock Assessment: Brevity is to be applauded but in this instance has been taken just a little too far, I feel. Without producing additional pages of text it would be nice to have some detail on how the acoustic survey and larval survey data are integrated with the stock assessment as they do not form part of the actual VPA process. Action: Text amended to: The virtual population analysis (VPA) is used for the assessment. The natural mortality rate is set to 0.15. A benchmark assessment was conducted in 2008. The term benchmark refers to a stock assessment that is the result of an intense process to decide on the most appropriate scientifically defensible methodology taking account of biological knowledge, available data and management needs. Retrospective analyses indicates that the assessment underestimates the stock size and overestimates the fishing mortality rates in the most recent years.
5.3 Stock status: This is all a bit abstract; can we have a few tonnages included, please? It’s one of the biggest spawning stocks in world fisheries, there’s no need to be shy about it – it’s something to be proud of. Comment: Chapter 5 is updated in accordance with the 2009 ICES advice and WGWIDE 2009 report. The description of stock status is expanded. Section on Ichthyophonus is included. Figure for the SSB in 2009 included. Action: Text amended to:
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SSB in 2009 is estimated to be above 13 mill. tonnes, well above all reference points and the highest observed since 1950. This makes the stock one of the biggest in world fisheries. The stock contains a number of good year classes. In the last 10 years four large year classes have been produced (1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004). However, the available information indicates that year classes born after 2004 have been small. Fishing mortality is estimated by ICES to be lower than Fpa. An outbreak of Ichthyophonus (a fungal disease) was observed in the Icelandic summer- spawning herring in the autumn 2008, where around 32% of the fishable stock was estimated to be infected (ICES 2009c) with the corresponding increase in M. This outbreak continued in summer 2009. The part of the Icelandic summer-spawning herring stock that feeds on the continental shelf off eastern Iceland, mix with Norwegian spring-spawning herring feeding there. However, neither of the stocks caught in the area in June 2009 were infected and there is no indication of an infection in the Atlanto-Scandian Herring stock and Ichthyophonus infection is therefore not an issue at the moment.
5.4 Management advice If Bmsy is in the list of abbreviations and is mentioned in the scoring tables, why does it not appear here? Doesn’t the EC ask for advice with respect to Bmsy? It has declared the intention of managing all EU fisheries with respect to MSY within the near future. Comment: Table has been updated. Paragraph on MSY included Action: Text amended to: The biological reference points advised by ICES are shown in table 5. The reference points are unchanged since 1998. The management plan is based on the reference points. Bmsy has not been defined by ICES. The MSC guidance states that Bmsy as a default assumption is equal to 40% of B0 and Blim equal to 50 % of Blim. ICES advise Blim equal to 2.5 million tonnes. This gives a Bmsy of 5 million tonnes which is equal to the Bpa advised by ICES. The current spawning stock is estimated to be above 13 million tonnes. Action: Table amended to:
Type Value Technical basis
Blim 2.5 million t MBAL
Precautionary Bpa 5.0 million t Blim * exp(0.4*1.645). approach Flim not defined -
Fpa 0.15 based on medium-term simulations.
Targets Fmgt <0.125 Management Plan.
6.1 Retained species and bycatch “For all practical purposes it is not possible to sort the catches by species on board---. FPO vessels are obliged to register by-catches in the log- book.” If it is not possible to sort the catch, how do skippers keep a record? Please explain. Action: Text added to paragraph: Because it is not possible to sort the catch on board the registration in the log-book of catches of retained species is based on the crew’s best judgement
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“According to the FPO discarding and slipping happens very rarely and has not taken place in recent years.” Maybe so, but is there any official corroboration for this? Are their any observer records to back it up; what does the Coastguard say? Action: Text added to paragraph: This was supported at the visits of the assessment team at the Faroese Fisheries Inspection and The Faroe Marine Research Institute. Both Institutions confirmed that to their knowledge discarding and slipping were rare in the FPO ASH fishery.
“In most cases retained species are recorded as spoiled and no quantitative information on retained species---”. What happens to this fish? In Denmark and Norway, it is said, that records are kept of all fish by species landed by pelagic vessels and that the quantities, no matter how small, are set against that vessel’s (and its flag state’s) quota. We need a bit more information on landing recording for all the countries to which FPO vessels discharge their catch. Action: text amended to: Most of the FPO herring catches are landed in Norway and Denmark. After the vessel has landed the catch it is sorted at the processing factory. Retained species are sorted out but not always recorded by species. In many cases retained species may be recorded together with the herring that has been sorted out as spoiled. Officially reported quantities of retained species may therefore be an underestimate. No quantitative information on retained species was available to the assessment team, but according to the FPO vessels catches of retained species is insignificant. This was confirmed to the assessment team by the Faroese Fisheries Inspection and The Faroe Marine Research Institute.
“Relatively little information is available on by-catches of salmon---” – which means that there is some, in which case it would be nice to see some of it here. NASCO has invested significant effort into monitoring high-seas salmon bycatch; why not give some results? Action: Text amended to: The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) has expressed concern about salmon by-catch in high-seas pelagic trawl fisheries and asked ICES to keep the matter under annual review. Although relatively little information is available on by-catches of salmon in high-sea fisheries there is no indication that the Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery constitute a threat to the salmon (ICES, 2007c and ICES, 2008d). Small catches of salmon were recorded by research vessels by pelagic trawling and from commercial catches in Norwegian Sea in 2006. In 2007, no salmon were recorded from commercial landings and only one post-smolt was taken by a Norwegian research vessel.
6.2 Interactions with Protected, Endangered, Threatened and Iconic species (ETP) “According to the FPO skippers no marine mammal has been caught by their vessels and by- catch of sea birds is extremely rare.” But the skippers would say that, wouldn’t they? What does ICES have to say on the matter? It has been looking at fishery–marine mammal interactions for some years and has expressed concern over some fisheries. What does it say about this fishery? If it says nothing specifically, the implication is no cause for concern. A
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short discussion about ICES marine mammal monitoring and conclusions would be helpful here. Comment: There is no reporting by ICES on bycatches of marine mammals in the Atlantic Scandian Herring fishery in the Norwegian Sea.
6.3 Habitat and ecosystem impacts “However, very few studies have been conducted on the subject---”. This means that there are some studies and, by implication they have said something on this subject. At the very least we should be told what these studies are, how extensive or limited they have been and what conclusions, if any, were reached with respect to the role of herring within the ecosystem. I find it hard to imagine that nobody has tried an ECOPATH assessment of the NE Atlantic– Norwegian Sea. Comment: The question addressed in the chapter is the ecosystem impacts of the ASH fishery on the ecosystem and not the role of the herring in the Norwegian Sea ecosystem. The indirect effect of the removal of herring by the fishery has been identified as the main impact and therefore the only one addressed in the chapter. Action: Text amended to: Atlanto-Scandian Herring is one of the main predators on zooplankton in the Norwegian Sea and is itself an important prey for a large number of top predators (Skjoldal et al., 2004). Because of the size of the stock it most likely has a major impact on the ecosystem. The main impact of the herring fishery on the ecosystem is therefore believed to be the indirect effect of the removal of the target species may have on the prey and predator species. However, the stock is exploited sustainable with a fishing mortality that is less than the natural mortality. The indirect effect on the ecosystem of the removal of the herring can therefore be considered insignificant. However, very few studies have been conducted on the subject and it is not possible to quantify the interaction between the FPO fishery, the Atlanto-Scandian Herring stock and the Norwegian Sea ecosystem (see chapter 3 and Skjoldal et. al., 2004)). 6.4 Other Fisheries Relevant to this Assessment Fisheries for other species are also relevant. How much Atlanto-Scandian Herring is taken in the Faroese mackerel and blue whiting fisheries? How and where are the species separated; how are they recorded? Are the quantities simply overlooked or do they contribute to the fleet total for quota calculations? Do the numbers go into the ICES assessment or are they ‘lost’? Action: Text added at the end of paragraph All recorded landings of Atlanto-Scandian Herring including bycatches of herring in other fisheries such as fisheries for mackerel and blue whiting are counted against the Faroese quota.
7.6 Control and Enforcement procedures in FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery Once more a commendably concise overview of the control and enforcement regime but it leaves as many questions unanswered as it answers. How are actual landings monitored? What steps are taken to minimise the risk of undeclared landings, e.g. landings made to a non- Faroese port? What is the level of compliance? What steps do vessels take to ensure that they take their quota but no more? If they catch fish excess to quota (on the last day of the season) what happens? We have been told elsewhere there is no slipping so something must be done
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with it. Can a vessel land excess quota and declare it against another vessel’s allocation? Who monitors the performance of the inspectors and ensures that they are doing their job?
Action: Chapter 7.6.5 amended: 7.6.5 Landing Control Faroese Fisheries Inspection is responsible for insuring that all landings of AS herring made by vessels flying the Faroese flag are in accordance with Faroese quota for stock and are properly recorded and verified. The legislation requires that all vessels landing fish, both in Faroe Islands and outside, submit logbooks accompanied by sales notes/ landing notes shortly after landing. In order to ensure that the correct quantities are deducted from fishing quotas, the Faroese Fisheries Inspection conducts a cross-check analysis on the catch – sale data received. If one of the Faroese vessels accidently exceeds its allocated quota, the following procedure would apply. Within three days the master/owner of the vessel should make a decision on weather to: • Transfer/buy quota from another vessel that has unfished quota • Or reduce quota for the next fishing year According to Faroese Fisheries Inspection, the level of compliance in Faroese AS Herring fishery is generally high. Landed catches almost never differ more than 5% from what is reported in the logbook/allocated to the vessel. The monitoring of landings follows a set of general procedures. • Inspection and inspectors takes samples and are monitor part of the landings. • If landing take place outside the Faroe Islands, the same information is sent to the local inspection authorities (example in Norway). The information includes o species and quantity o landing Harbour o customer (buyer of the fish) information o For landings abroad, the Faroese inspectors can, and are sometimes doing inspections. They may be on the spot to take samples and monitor the landings together with the local inspectors. The local inspectors sample and monitor according to bilateral and international agreements. To minimize the risk of undeclared landings, Faroese vessels are not allowed to land fish in any harbour before the skipper has informed the Faroese and the local inspection authorities. Landings to non-Faroese port are under bilateral and international agreements. The monitoring procedures follow coastal and international agreements • For fishing in International waters: The Coastal state agreement (Need reference) • EU-waters: Bilateral agreement between EU and the Faroe Islands (Need reference) • Norwegian waters: Bilateral agreement between Norway and the Faroe Islands
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Scoring Table Principle 1 1.1.2 “The target reference point is such that the stock is maintained at a level consistent with BMSY or some measure or surrogate with similar intent or outcome, or a higher level,---” Whilst this condition might well be met at the 95 level, there is no discussion of Bmsy in the narrative report and without such a discussion, this score is difficult to justify or accept. Action. Discussion of Bmsy is added
1.2.1 “---the plan indicates a general willingness---” is hardly a ringing endorsement in support of a score of 95. I think it is a clear indication that the foundation is there but only time will tell; until then 85 might be more realistic – unless a better case is made in the narrative report. Comment: Two of the three 100 guidepost criteria are met. The score of 95 is therefore considered appropriate.
Principle 2
2.1.1 Yet again, we are told that the quantities of retained species are very low but nowhere were we shown evidence of this nor was there any explanation of how the quantities are monitored, recorded or fed into the respective assessment procedures. Action: Text added: There is no main retained species and the 80 guidepost criteria is met. None of the 100 criteria are met.
2.1.2 The scoring criteria for 80 require that “there is a partial strategy of demonstrably effective---” yet the scoring comments in support of 80 state that “there is no strategy in place for managing retained species”. If ‘there is no strategy’, it cannot score 80. There is clearly a disconnect between what the assessment team perceive to be going on and the evidence they have presented. On the basis of the narrative report, it is correct to say ‘there is no strategy’, in which case a lower score is required here – or a better argument to support the score given. Action: Text amended to: The 80 guidepost criteria are met as no main retained species are caught in the FPO Atlanto - Scandian Herring fishery. Minor retained species includes mackerel, saithe, blue whiting and red fish. There is no strategy in place for managing retained species and non of the 100 guidepost criteria are met.
2.1.3 The narrative report provided insufficient information or discussion to form an opinion on whether or not “Information on the nature and extent of retained species is adequate to determine the risk posed by the fishery and the effectiveness of the strategy to manage retained species”. This is reiterated here but we are expected to accept that a score of 80 is achieved. Other fleets fishing this stock and landing to (some of) the ports accepting landings
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from the FPO sort the catches on landing and record retained bycatch against the corresponding quotas and TACs. Why is this not done here? We need more information (albeit qualitative) to justify the 80. Comment: The assessment team comment that the 80 guidepost criteria only address the main retained species. The available information is sufficient to conclude that there is no main retain species caught in the FPO ASH fishery and all 80 criteria are therefore met. Action: No Change
2.2.2 “All the evidence is that bycatch is not an issue---” – but we weren’t shown any evidence nor was there a substantiated discussion in the narrative text. Comment: The assessment team consider that the appropriate references to the relevant sources of information is provide Action: No change
2.2.3 We need some discussion of exactly what “qualitative information” is available and why it is reasonable to accept that it is “adequate”. Action: Score reduced to 80
2.3.n The same comments can be applied to 2.3 as for 2.2.
2.5.1 A score of 100 is, quite literally, unjustified; i.e. no relevant information has been provided at any stage; there has been no discussion. In the narrative report we are told that herring is probably a key to this ecosystem but very little is known etc, but here we are expected to accept a score of 100. That is just not credible. ICES multispecies working group and the Barents Sea ecosystem model are relevant to the narrative discussion and to the comment box here but even then 100 cannot be justified. Action: Text amended to: Atlanto-Scandian Herring is one of the main predators on zooplankton in the Norwegian Sea and is itself an important prey for a large number of top predators. Because of the size of the stock it most likely has a major impact on the ecosystem. The main impact of the herring fishery on the ecosystem is therefore believed to be the indirect effect of the removal of the target species may have on the prey and predator species. To date, no specific concerns have been expressed that the current harvest and recent exploitation patterns have posed an unacceptable risk to herring predator populations. The stock is exploited sustainable with a fishing mortality that is less than the natural mortality. The indirect effect on the ecosystem of the removal of the herring is therefore highly unlikely to disrupt the key elements underlying ecosystem structure and function to a point where there would be a serious or irreversible harm
Principle 3
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3.1.2 The details of consultation in the narrative report are limited; it is all implicit rather than explicit. The score of 100 is probably fair but we are rather expected to take it on trust. Comment: The assessment team considers the information on management consultative process is adequate to form the basis for the scoring. Action: No change
3.2.3 Again, the score is probably fair but we have been given very little information. We are told who is responsible and what they are supposed to do but there is no indication of the intensity or effectiveness. Such information is essential to support a score of 95. Action: Score reduced to 90
References The brevity of the reference list highlights the superficial nature of many key areas to this report. There are many more publications that could be cited in support of a fuller account than has been presented here. The Faroese bilateral agreements (as listed) do not appear very helpful. There must be more details that could be added to ensure that I could trace them if necessary.
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Peer Review B
General: This is a well presented report full of all relevant factual information on which to base an assessment against the three MSC Principles. We are dealing with what is now the largest herring stock in the world and the largest stock of any commercial species in North Atlantic. It would be useful to have this important information conveyed to the reader at an early stage in the report as it would aptly set the scene for everything which follows. I note that, in the main, this assessment is based on stock status and all other details contained in the ICES WGWIDE report of 2008. However there are comments in some parts of the report, in particular in section 5 which relate to the ICES advice promulgated in October 2009. This advice is based on the WGWIDE report of 2009 and this report should therefore be referred to, and appropriately referenced as well as the advice sheet. I will cover this issue in more detail under comments on section 5 and in the scoring comments. In general most of the Figures could be better presented which would both enhance the report and make the information in those Figures easier for the reader to understand. I am particularly critical of Figures which have simply been ‘lifted’ from ICES WGWIDE reports and pasted in. They are outputs from an assessment package and whilst suitable and convenient for a WG report they fall well short of the standard expected of an MSC report. The basic data are readily available and, with a little effort, each Figure can be easily re-made and improved. Again I will comment specifically on these in the relevant sections. In many of the scoring comments there is a need to improve the justification for the score not simply by repeating elements of the scoring criteria in the text. It is helpful in that context to always state which elements of the scoring criteria have been met and which have not. For example state ‘all of the 80 scoring criteria have been met but only the first of the two 100 criteria justifying a score of 90’ Without listing the numerous specific instances, I must note that some attention is required to editorial detail in the report. This could be easily achieved by a careful proof read. Had the document been in Word I would have made the necessary changes for you in ‘Track Changes’ Specific comments: 2.1 This is a useful introduction to the Faroese Pelagic Organization with valuable information, for later scoring, under Principle 3, on the way that the organization is operated and managed. The section also has details of the seven vessels in the fleet, the area of operation of the fleet and the individual vessel quotas. On reading this section I was concerned to note that the largest vessel, the Noroborg, with the biggest individual vessel quota, was involved in processing at sea. My concern was the potential problem related to vessel quota uptake and accurate recording of the catch once fish had been processed. Although this point is adequately covered in section 8 (referred to here) I think that it should be given in a bit more detail at this early stage of the report. Action: No change required as it is referred to section 8 where it is covered
2.3 Figure 2 looks very pretty but I find the format and projection decorative rather than informative. There is useful information on the fishery here and it would be better presented in a straightforward map.
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It is interesting to note that the major part of the Faroese catch is landed in Norway and sold through Norges Sildesalgslag. This is a very creditable organisation with modern and sophisticated means of assessing and recording landings from vessels. However it is of some concern that landings of retained by-catch species, such as mackerel and blue whiting, do not appear to be recorded and therefore set against quota. I will cover this issue in more detail in comments on section 6. Action: No change – handled in section 6
3 This section on Ecosystem characteristics is interesting and important in the context of Principle 2. It is well written and contains all the necessary information. Action: No change required
4.1. This section and section 4.2 on the history of the fishery could be made much more interesting with the inclusion of more information on both the biology and also the huge changes over the past 50 years. This is one of the most fascinating and scientifically challenging fish stocks in the world. These two sections do not adequately convey this excitement and I find them rather dull. Something has obviously gone wrong with Figure 6 and the way that the histogram blocks have reproduced. This is one of those figures copied directly from WGWIDE 2008. The basic landings data should be used to re-do this Figure in Excel. Comment: Sections 4.1 and 4.2 include the information required to conduct the assessment against the three MSC principles. Figure 6 is copied directly from WGWIDE 2008. The basic landings data was not available to the assessment team. Action: No change
5.1. It would be useful to give the actual dates of the acoustic, trawl and larvae surveys, in the text. It is worth noting here that 2008 was a benchmark assessment and explaining what that means in ICES terminology. Action: Text amended to: 5.1.2 Acoustic and trawl surveys Two surveys have been carried out in recent years and used in the assessment. The international ecosystem summer survey in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea is a trawl- acoustic survey. It focuses on herring and blue whiting. The estimated abundance of age groups 4 and older from the area west of 20°E from 1991 to 2009 were used in the assessment as tuning indices for age groups 4 to 15+. Results from the Barents Sea were used to estimate the size of the recruiting year classes (age groups 1 and 2). The survey is considered the most important for the assessment of the surveys. The joint Russian-Norwegian ecosystem autumn survey is a combined trawl and acoustic survey. It provides input to the assessment on size of recruiting year classes and data from the survey was used as tuning index for age group 0.
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5.1.3 Larvae survey A Norwegian herring larvae survey has been carried out on the Norwegian shelf in March – April since 1981. The larvae indices obtained from the survey are used as indicator of the size of the spawning stock.. Action: Paragraph on benchmark assessment added: The virtual population analysis (VPA) is used for the assessment. The natural mortality rate is set to 0.15. A benchmark assessment was conducted in 2008. The term benchmark refers to a stock assessment that is the result of an intense process to decide on the most appropriate scientifically defensible methodology taking account of biological knowledge, available data and management needs. Retrospective analyses indicate that the assessment underestimates the stock size and overestimates the fishing mortality rates in the most recent years.
5.3. In this section on Stock Status you have started to use the 2009 ICES advice. Although this post dates the site visit, to provide that very latest advice is laudable. However that advice does come from the 2009 WGWIDE report from September 2009. With a little more effort the whole of section 5, and maybe other parts of the report, could be updated to take account of the changes since 2008. In any case that 2009 report must be referenced because it is where the advice originates from. It is interesting to note in section 7.5.6 of the 2009 report that the Ichthyophonus disease has been noted in Icelandic summer spawning herring. The disease is almost certainly spread through the planktonic food and there are feeding areas where the Atlanto-Scandian Herring mix with the Icelandic stock. There is currently no indication of a high infection rate in Atlanto-Scandian Herring but the issue is being kept under surveillance. The Stock survey figures (Figure 9) are originals from WGWIDE 2009. They would look much better and would convey the information more readily if they were re-plotted form the basic data. In that way they could take up the whole width of the page and be presented as separate Figures in colour. Another figure could usefully be added here and commented on in the text. That is a Figure showing the age structure of the stock. Year classes up to 15+ are well represented in the catches and this should be used as valuable supporting evidence of the sustainability of current fishing practices. Action: Text amended to: SSB in 2009 is estimated to be above 13 mill. tonnes, well above all reference points and the highest observed since 1950. This makes the stock one of the biggest in world fisheries. The stock contains a number of good year classes. In the last 10 years four large year classes have been produced (1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004). However, the available information indicates that year classes born after 2004 have been small. Fishing mortality is estimated by ICES to be lower than Fpa Action: New paragraph added: An outbreak of Ichthyophonus (a fungal disease) was observed in the Icelandic summer- spawning herring in the autumn 2008, where around 32% of the fishable stock was estimated to be infected (ICES 2009c) with the corresponding increase in M. This outbreak continued in summer 2009. The part of the Icelandic summer-spawning herring stock that feeds on the continental shelf off eastern Iceland, mix with Norwegian spring-spawning herring feeding there. However, neither of the stocks caught in the area in June 2009 were infected and there
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is no indication of an infection in the Atlanto-Scandian Herring stock and Ichthyophonus infection is therefore not an issue at the moment..
5.4. Advice. This Table has been copied from the 2009 advice, but it contains some minor mistakes. The F type in the Table is Fmgt not Fy. Flim is referred to as ‘not defined’ rather than as ‘not relevant for this stock’. The statement at the end of this Table is wrong. The actual wording and figures should be ‘The management plan implies catches of 1,483,000t in 2010 which is expected to leave a spawning stock of 10.8 million tonnes in 2011. Action: Text amended to: The biological reference points advised by ICES are shown in table 5. The reference points are unchanged since 1998. The management plan is based on the reference points. Bmsy has not been defined by ICES. The MSC guidance states that Bmsy as a default assumption is equal to 40% of B0 and Blim equal to 50 % of Blim. ICES advise Blim equal to 2.5 million tonnes. This gives a Bmsy of 5 million tonnes which is equal to the Bpa advised by ICES. The current spawning stock is estimated to be above 13 million tonnes. Action: Table has been updated
Type Value Technical basis
Blim 2.5 million t MBAL
Precautionary Bpa 5.0 million t Blim * exp(0.4*1.645). approach Flim not defined -
Fpa 0.15 based on medium-term simulations.
Targets Fmgt <0.125 Management Plan. Action: Text amended to: The management plan implies maximum catches of 1 438 000 t in 2010, which is expected to leave a spawning stock of 10.8 million tonnes in 2011. The TAC for 2009 was set at 1.643 Mt.
6.1 Retained species and by-catch. I note that whilst all the by-catch species are retained, they cannot be separated on board. I am concerned that, although the quantities are reported as being small, they are not systematically recorded. How then can the by catch of important species such as mackerel and blue whiting be set against the vessels quota for those species? In the context of landings in Norway I am surprised that the Norges Sildesalgslag organisation does not record these data. This is duly recognised as a problem in the SWOT analysis section of this report. The infrequent discarding and slipping of catches is noted in this section. Such occurrences, both in mid-water trawling and in purse seining, must be regarded as mortality. Suggestions that slippage form a purse seine does not generate mass mortality has not been scientifically proven, indeed the opposite is true. Even though the practice is regarded as infrequent there is an opportunity for FPO vessels to provide useful data to the ICES WG. Unrecorded slippage is recognised as a problem in the SWOT analysis section of this report. Currently only The Netherlands provides such discard data. This should be included as a RECOMMENDATION
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in this report and the practice should be re-enforced by inclusion in the CODEX which is about to be published. The CODEX should: a) totally discourage high grading, discarding and slippage through a firm instruction prohibiting it within the code. b) when, for whatever reason (e.g. safety) slippage or discarding has to occur then the quantities are estimated and reported to the relevant national scientific body for the data to be included in the stock assessment process. Action: Text amended to: The Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery conducted by the FPO vessels can be classified as single species fisheries with herring as the target species and small by-catches of mackerel, saithe, blue whiting and redfish. For all practical purposes it is not possible to sort the catches by species on board and the by-catches are all landed and therefore in accordance with MSC definition classified as retained species. FPO vessels are obliged to register by-catches in the log-book Because it is not possible to sort the catch on board the registration in the log-book of catches of retained species is based on the crews best judgement. By-catches of saithe and blue whiting may occur throughout the fishing season while catches of redfish are mainly observed late in the year when the herring is found in the northern part of its area of distribution. Mackerel is mainly caught during the summer and the Faroese fishery for Atlanto-Scandian Herring north of the Faroe has in recent years been hampered by large amounts of mackerel present in the same area and often mixed within the herring schools in the upper layers. To avoid the mackerel the Faroese vessels had to move northwards out of the Faroese area in late July and August. By-catch of mackerel is a legal activity but the vessels try to avoided by-catch of mackerel in the herring fishery because the mackerel is deducted from the vessels mackerel quota and the marketing value of mackerel is very low in the summer months. According to the FPO discarding and slipping happens very rarely and has not taken place in recent years. This was supported at the visits of the assessment team at the Faroese Fisheries Inspection and The Faroe Marine Research Institute. Both Institutions confirmed that to their knowledge discarding and slipping were rare in the FPO ASH fishery. Most of the FPO herring catches are landed in Norway and Denmark. After the vessel has landed the catch it is sorted at the processing factory. Retained species are sorted out but not always recorded by species. In many cases retained species may be recorded together with the herring that has been sorted out as spoiled. Officially reported quantities of retained species may therefore be an underestimate. No quantitative information on retained species was available to the assessment team, but according to the FPO vessels catches of retained species is insignificant. This was confirmed to the assessment team by the Faroese Fisheries Inspection and The Faroe Marine Research Institute. The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) has expressed concern about salmon by-catch in high-seas pelagic trawl fisheries and asked ICES to keep the matter under annual review. Although relatively little information is available on by-catches of salmon in high-sea fisheries there is no indication that the Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery constitute a threat to the salmon (ICES, 2007c and ICES, 2008d). Small catches of salmon were recorded by research vessels by pelagic trawling and from commercial catches in Norwegian Sea in 2006. In 2007, no salmon were recorded from commercial landings and only one post-smolt was taken by a Norwegian research vessel.
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A recommendation has been included in the report.
7 Fisheries Management. There is a good explanation of the control by NEAFC and the Coastal States Agreement, updated in 2006, and the bilateral arrangements which are so important in this well managed multi-national fishery. The proposed CODEX for the FPO fleet is an important new element in the management of this fishery in the context of the three MSC Principles to ensure a sustainable and well managed fishery. If at all possible it would be useful to have a Draft copy of the CODEX included as an appendix to this report. Comment: Draft of CODEX not available before the 1st of January 2010.
8.7 This provides an excellent account of the accuracy of the landings data for Atlanto- Scandian Herring including those of processed herring from the ‘Noroborg’. It also provides some information on the traceability of the landings although ‘Chain of Custody’ issues are outside the scope of this report. Action: No change
SCORING Where no comment is made there I am content with both the score and the related scoring comments.
1.1.1 The score is OK but more supporting information is needed in the text to justify it. Take some of the stock and reference levels from the report as they are worth repeating here. In relation to the sustainability of the harvest you should quote the large number of year classes currently present in the stock- a clear indication of a ‘healthy state’. WGWIDE 2009 should also be referenced here as well as the 2009 advice. Comment: The information is sufficient to justify the score. Detailed information is given in chapter 5.3
1.2.3 The MSC Fisheries assessment manual gives clear guidance on all the factors to be covered under this PI. It would be much clearer if each was listed and commented on separately – Stock structure; Stock productivity; Fleet composition; Stock abundance; Fishery removals and Other data which would include the environmental information. You should also note from the WG report that mortality of juvenile herring in the Barents Sea is not well known or recorded. You should also specify which of the 100 scoring criteria the fishery fails to meet. Action: Text amended to: There is a comprehensive, internationally supported and collated research and monitoring programme that ensures that sufficient data of an appropriate quality are gathered for monitoring the stock (stock structure, abundance, and productivity) and the fishery(fleet
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composition, operation and fishery removals) . In addition to data collected from the commercial fisheries, there are internationally coordinated plankton, acoustic and trawl surveys carried out by scientific institutions of the fishing nations. The ICES assumes that there are some unreported landings and discards/slipping not reported but relative to the SSB and scale of the fishery they are thought to be trivial.
1.2.4 Once again more detail from the report needs to included in the text here in order to justify what is a reasonable score. You have simply repeated text from the scoring criteria which is not good enough. WGWIDE 2009 should be referenced here. Comment: The information is sufficient to justify the score
2.1.1 Justify the score of 80 by stating clearly that all the 80 guidepost criteria are met but none of the 100. Action: Text added: There is no main retained species and the 80 guidepost criteria is met. None of the 100 criteria are met.
2.1.2 I am sure that the score is OK but the text does not justify it. More detail is required and again repeat which of the guidepost criteria are met. Action: Text amended to: The 80 guidepost criteria are met as no main retained species are caught in the FPO Atlanto - Scandian Herring fishery. Minor retained species includes mackerel, saithe, blue whiting and red fish. There is no strategy in place for managing retained species and non of the 100 guidepost criteria are met.
2.1.3 Meets all of the 80 scoring criteria but none of the 100 criteria. Action: No change
2.2.3 Reduce the score to 80. With no quantitative information available then this simply meets all the 80 scoring criteria and none of the 100. Therefore a score of 80 is justified and your text confirms this. Action: Score reduced to 80
2.3.2 Your text does not justify the score and with no formal strategy then only the 80 scoring criteria are met and the score should be reduced to 80. Action: Score reduced to 90
2.3.3 Once again the text does not justify the score. However limited the interaction with ETP species you cannot really say that ‘ Information is sufficient to quantitatively estimate
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outcome status with a high degree of certainty’ or that ‘accurate and verifiable information is available on the magnitude of all impacts, mortalities and injuries etc’. The score should be reduced to 80. Action: Score reduced to 80
2.4.1 Without the actual evidence of the effect of these gears on the pelagic habitat you cannot reasonably go beyond saying that ‘it is highly unlikely to reduce habitat structure etc.’ Justifying a score of only 80. Comment: There is no indication in the international scientific literature that the pelagic trawling or purse seining reduce habitat structure and function and the score of 100 is justified. Action: No change
2.4.2 and 2.4.3 For similar reasons to 2.4.1 the score should be reduced to 80. You have used exactly the same text for each of these PI’s and my justification for reducing the score on each of them to 80 is exactly the same. Comment: There is no indication in the international scientific literature that the pelagic trawling or purse seining reduce habitat structure and function and the score of 100 is justified. Action: No change
2.5.1 Once again without the evidence this only reaches the Highly likely scoring criteria justifying a score of 80. Action: Text added: To date, no specific concerns have been expressed that the current harvest and recent exploitation patterns have posed an unacceptable risk to herring predator populations. The stock is exploited sustainable with a fishing mortality that is less than the natural mortality. The indirect effect on the ecosystem of the removal of the herring is therefore highly unlikely to disrupt the key elements underlying ecosystem structure and function to a point where there would be a serious or irreversible harm.
2.5.3 The score is OK but you should just specify which of the 100 scoring criteria are met and which ones are not met. Action: No change
3.1.1 You note at the end that the view of the management is that a score of 80 is appropriate and I agree. However you have scored it at 85. You should consider a Recommendation in relation to this PI. Comment: The assessment team agreed on the score of 85 and the 80 given in the text under comments is an error. The assessment team does not consider a recommendation for this PI at this stage.
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Action: 80 changed to 85 in last sentence under comments. 3.2.3. Reduce the score from 95 to 90. Because of the ongoing issue of non-compliance the fishery achieves all of the 80 scoring criteria but only the first two of the 100 criteria therefore a score of only 90 can be justified. Action: Score reduced to 90
3.2.5 What does FO mean? It is not in the list of acronyms. Action: FO as Faroe Island is added to the list of abbreviations
Conclusion
Although I have suggested that some of the scores should be reduced these suggestions, if accepted, will not significantly change the overall score for each Principle. Similarly I have suggested that the assessment should generate two recommendations which does not affect the overall conclusion. I therefore agree with the assessment team’s recommendation that - ‘The Faroese Pelagic Organisation’s Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery should be certified according to the Marine Stewardship Council Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fisheries’
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ENCLOSURE 7: DEFAULT SCORING COMMENT TABLE FOR FPO’S ATLANTO-SCANDIAN HERRING FISHERY
INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
1 Principle A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be
conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery. 1.1 Component Outcome 0.5
1.1.1 PI: Stock status (C1) The stock is at a level which maintains high productivity 0,5 0 and has a low probability of recruitment overfishing. 60 It is likely that the stock is above the point where recruitment would be The stock is almost equal to the highest level of biomass -ICES 2009a; 100 impaired. ever recorded and there is a high degree of certainty that -ICES, 2008b SSB has been well above its target reference points for more than a decade. There is a very high degree of 80 It is highly likely that the stock is above the point where recruitment would certainty that the stock is above the level at which be impaired. recruitment might be impaired.
The stock is at or fluctuating around its target reference point. There is general acceptance that the stock is being harvested sustainably and has full reproductive capacity. 100 There is a high degree of certainty that the stock is above the point where recruitment would be impaired. There is a high degree of certainty that the stock has been fluctuating around its target reference point, or has been above its target reference point, over recent years.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
1 Principle A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery. 1.1 Component Outcome 0,5 1.1.2 PI: Reference points Limit and target reference points are appropriate for the 0,5 stock. 60 Generic limit and target reference points are based on justifiable and reasonable Reference points are appropriate for the stock and stock is -ICES 2009; 95 practice appropriate for the species category. estimated with respect to these reference points annually. -ICES, 2008c 80 Reference points are appropriate for the stock and can be estimated. The limit reference point is set above the level at which there is an appreciable risk The limit reference point is set above the level at which of impairing reproductive capacity. there is an appreciable risk of impairing reproductive The target reference point is such that the stock is maintained at a level consistent capacity following consideration of relevant precautionary with BMSY or some measure or surrogate with similar intent or outcome. issues. All levels have been reviewed by ICES and are For low trophic level species, the target reference point takes into account the considered to be consistent with precautionary ecological role of the stock. management and sustainable exploitation. 100 Reference points are appropriate for the stock and can be estimated. The limit reference point is set above the level at which there is an appreciable risk The target reference fishing mortality rate is such that the of impairing reproductive capacity following consideration of relevant stock is maintained at a level consistent with high stock precautionary issues. and yield. ICES reviews the ecosystem annually and the The target reference point is such that the stock is maintained at a level consistent implications of the fishery within the NE Arctic system. with BMSy or some measure or surrogate with similar intent or outcome, or a The score reflects the Bmsy is not defined for the stock. higher level, and takes into account relevant precautionary issues such as the ecological role of the stock with a high degree of certainty.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
1 Principle A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery. 1.1 Component Outcome
1.1.3 PI: Stock rebuilding (C2) Where the stock is depleted, there is evidence of stock NA rebuilding.
60 Where stocks are depleted rebuilding strategies which have a reasonable expectation of success are in place.
Monitoring is in place to determine whether they are effective in rebuilding the stock within a specified timeframe.
80 Where stocks are depleted rebuilding strategies are in place.
There is evidence that they are rebuilding stocks, or it is highly likely based on simulation modelling or previous performance that they will be able to rebuild the stock within a specified timeframe. 100 Where stocks are depleted, strategies are demonstrated to be rebuilding stocks continuously and there is strong evidence that rebuilding will be complete within the shortest practicable timeframe.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
1 Principle A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery. 1.2 Component Management 0,5 1.2.1 PI: Harvest strategy There is a robust and precautionary harvest strategy in 0,25 place 60 The harvest strategy is expected to achieve stock management objectives reflected In 1999 the coastal States reached an agreement on a -ICES 2009; 95 in the target and limit reference points. harvest strategy for the Atlanto-Scandian Herring. ICES -ICES, 2008c The harvest strategy is likely to work based on prior experience or plausible has endorsed the plan as meeting the criteria for a argument. precautionary approach to fish stock exploitation. i.e. The - Agreed Record harvest strategy is responsive to the state of the stock and of conclusions of Monitoring is in place that is expected to determine whether the harvest strategy is is designed to achieve stock management objectives working. Fisheries reflected in the target and limit reference points. consultations on 80 The harvest strategy is responsive to the state of the stock and the elements of the the management
harvest strategy work together towards achieving management objectives reflected of the Norwegian in the target and limit reference points. The performance of the harvest strategy has not been fully spring-spawning The harvest strategy may not have been fully tested but monitoring is in place and evaluated. Since the adoption of the management plan the (Atlanto- evidence exists that it is achieving its objectives. stock has been at very high levels and it has not been Scandian) Herring possible to evaluate the performance of the strategy in the stock in the 100 The harvest strategy is responsive to the state of the stock and is designed to achieve stock management objectives reflected in the target and limit reference event of a critical decline of the stock. North-East Atlantic for 2009 points.
The performance of the harvest strategy has been fully evaluated and evidence The plan indicates a general willingness to undertake a exists to show that it is achieving its objectives including being clearly able to periodic review should events deem it necessary. maintain stocks at target levels. The harvest strategy is periodically reviewed and improved as necessary.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
1 Principle A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery. 1.2 Component Management 0,5 1.2.2 PI: Harvest control rules and tools There are well defined and effective harvest control rules 0,25 in place 60 Generally understood harvest control rules are in place that are consistent with the Well defined harvest control rules are in place that are ICES 2009; 95 harvest strategy and which act to reduce the exploitation rate as limit reference consistent with the harvest strategy and ensure that the -ICES, 2008c points are approached. exploitation rate is reduced as limit reference points are There is some evidence that tools used to implement harvest control rules are approached. The harvest control rule specifies a minimum - Agreed Record appropriate and effective in controlling exploitation. reduction in exploitation rate to be taken if the stock falls of conclusions of below Bpa . Fisheries 80 Well defined harvest control rules are in place that are consistent with the harvest consultations on strategy and ensure that the exploitation rate is reduced as limit reference points are The harvest control rule is based on advice from ICES that the management approached. takes into account a wide range of uncertainties.. of the Norwegian The selection of the harvest control rules takes into account the main uncertainties. The annual assessment of the state of the stock and the spring-spawning Available evidence indicates that the tools in use are appropriate and effective in fishery on the stock shows that the management has been (Atlanto- achieving the exploitation levels required under the harvest control rules. effective in achieving the exploitation levels required Scandian) Herring under the harvest control rule. Since the adoption of the stock in the 100 Well defined harvest control rules are in place that are consistent with the harvest strategy and ensure that the exploitation rate is reduced as limit reference points are harvest control rule the Atlanto-Scandian Herring stock North-East approached. has been well above Bpa . There is therefore no evidence Atlantic for 2009 that clearly shows that the tools used will be effective in
The design of the harvest control rules take into account a wide range of reducing the exploitation level in the event the stock falls uncertainties. below Bpa. Evidence clearly shows that the tools in use are effective in achieving the exploitation levels required under the harvest control rules.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
1 Principle A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery. 1.2 Component Management 0,5
1.2.3 PI: Information and monitoring Relevant information is collected to support the harvest 0,25 strategy
60 Some relevant information related to stock structure, stock productivity There is a comprehensive, internationally supported and ICES 2009; 90 and fleet composition is available to support the harvest strategy. collated research and monitoring programme that ensures -ICES, 2008c that sufficient data of an appropriate quality are gathered
for monitoring the stock (stock structure, abundance, and - Agreed Record Stock abundance and fishery removals are monitored and at least one productivity) and the fishery(fleet composition, operation of conclusions of indicator is available and monitored with sufficient frequency to support and fishery removals) . In addition to data collected from Fisheries the harvest control rule. the commercial fisheries, there are internationally consultations on coordinated plankton, acoustic and trawl surveys carried the management
out by scientific institutions of the fishing nations. The of the Norwegian
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80 Sufficient relevant information related to stock structure, stock ICES assumes that there are some unreported landings and spring-spawning productivity, fleet composition and other data is available to support the discards/slipping not reported but relative to the SSB and (Atlanto- harvest strategy. scale of the fishery they are thought to be trivial. Scandian) Herring stock in the
North-East Stock abundance and fishery removals are regularly monitored at a level of Atlantic for 2009 accuracy and coverage consistent with the harvest control rule, and one or Based on the comprehensive data collection ICES assess more indicators are available and monitored with sufficient frequency to on an annual basis the stock size and fishery removals and support the harvest control rule. provides advice on fishing possibilities in accordance with the harvest control rule adopted by the costal States. There is good information on all other fishery removals from the stock. 100 A comprehensive range of information (on stock structure, stock productivity, fleet composition, stock abundance, fishery removals and other information such as environmental information), including some that may not be directly relevant to the current harvest strategy, is available.
All information required by the harvest control rule is monitored with high frequency and a high degree of certainty, and there is a good understanding of the inherent uncertainties in the information [data] and the robustness of assessment and management to this uncertainty.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
1 Principle A fishery must be conducted in a manner that does not lead to over-fishing or depletion of the exploited populations and, for those populations that are depleted, the fishery must be conducted in a manner that demonstrably leads to their recovery. 1.2Component Management 0,5
1.2.4 PI: Assessment of stock status There is an adequate assessment of the stock status 0,25
60 The assessment estimates stock status relative to reference points. The assessment conducted by ICES is appropriate for the -ICES 2009; 95 stock and the harvest control rule and takes into account -ICES, 2008c the major features relevant to the biology of the herring The major sources of uncertainty are identified. and the nature of the fishery. The assessment takes into account uncertainties and the state of the stock is evaluated 80 The assessment is appropriate for the stock and for the harvest control rule, relative to reference points. and is evaluating stock status relative to reference points.
Several assessment approaches have been tested and The assessment takes uncertainty into account. shown to give very similar results indicating that the assessment is very robust. The stock assessment is subject to peer review.
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100 The assessment is appropriate for the stock and for the harvest control rule ICES Working Group assessments are routinely subject to and takes into account the major features relevant to the biology of the internal review before advice is provided to the fishery species and the nature of the fishery. management bodies. Formal external scientific review occurs but is irregular.
The assessment takes into account uncertainty and is evaluating stock status relative to reference points in a probabilistic way.
The assessment has been tested and shown to be robust. Alternative hypotheses and assessment approaches have been rigorously explored.
The assessment has been internally and externally peer reviewed.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.1 Component Retained species 0,2 2.1.1 PI: Outcome Status The fishery does not pose a risk of serious or irreversible 0,333 harm to the retained species and does not hinder recovery
of depleted retained species. 60 Main retained species are likely to be within biologically based limits or if There is no main retained species and the 80 guidepost -ICES 2009; 80 outside the limits there are measures in place that are expected to ensure criteria is met. None of the 100 criteria are met. -ICES, 2008c that the fishery does not hinder recovery and rebuilding of the depleted Retained species are: species. -Site visit Mackerel protocol; If the status is poorly known there are measures or practices in place that are expected to result in the fishery not causing the retained species to be Saithe - Interview with outside biologically based limits or hindering recovery. Faroese Ministry Blue whiting of Fisheries; 80 Main retained species are highly likely to be within biologically based Red fish limits, or if outside the limits there is a partial strategy of demonstrably - Interview with effective management measures in place such that the fishery does not The total catch by FPO vessels of the retained species are Faroe Marine hinder recovery and rebuilding. very low and all the retained species can be classified as
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100 There is a high degree of certainty that retained species are within minor retained species. Research Institute biologically based limits. Mackerel, blue whiting and saithe are all with high degree Target reference points are defined and retained species are at or of certainty within biologically based limits. fluctuating around their target reference points. Red fish sotcks in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea (Sebastes mentella and Sebastes marinus) are assessed by ICES to be outside biologically based limits and ICES recommends that there should be no directed fishery on the stocks.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.1 Component Retained species 0,2
2.1.2 PI: Management strategy There is a strategy in place for managing retained species 0,333 that is designed to ensure the fishery does not pose a risk
of serious or irreversible harm to retained species.
60 There are measures in place, if necessary, that are expected to maintain the The 80 guidepost criteria are met as no main retained ICES 2009; 80 main retained species at levels which are highly likely to be within species are caught in the FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring -ICES, 2008c biologically based limits, or to ensure the fishery does not hinder their fishery. recovery and rebuilding. -Site visit
protocol;
Minor retained species includes mackerel, saithe, blue - Interview with The measures are considered likely to work, based on plausible argument whiting and red fish. There is no strategy in place for Faroese Ministry (eg, general experience, theory or comparison with similar managing retained species and non of the 100 guidepost of Fisheries; fisheries/species). criteria are met.
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80 There is a partial strategy in place, if necessary that is expected to maintain - Interview the main retained species at levels which are highly likely to be within with Faroe biologically based limits, or to ensure the fishery does not hinder their recovery and rebuilding. Marine Research
Institute There is some objective basis for confidence that the partial strategy will work, based on some information directly about the fishery and/or species involved. There is some evidence that the partial strategy is being implemented successfully. 100 There is a strategy in place for managing retained species.
The strategy is mainly based on information directly about the fishery and/or species involved, and testing supports high confidence that the strategy will work.
There is clear evidence that the strategy is being implemented successfully, and intended changes are occurring. There is some evidence that the strategy is achieving its overall objective.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.1 Component Retained species 0,2
2.1.3 PI: Information and monitoring Information on the nature and extent of retained species is 0,333 adequate to determine the risk posed by the fishery and the
effectiveness of the strategy to manage retained species. 60 Qualitative information is available on the amount of main retained species No main retained species are caught in the FPO Atlanto- ICES 2009; 80 taken by the fishery. Scandian Herring fishery. Minor retained species includes -ICES, 2008c mackerel, saithe, blue whiting and red fish.
-Site visit
Information is adequate to qualitatively assess outcome status with respect protocol; to biologically based limits. No quantitative information on minor retained species was - Interview with available to the DNV team. Faroese Ministry of Fisheries; Information is adequate to support measures to manage main retained species. - Interview with Faroe Marine 80 Qualitative information and some quantitative information are available on Research Institute the amount of main retained species taken by the fishery. Information is sufficient to estimate outcome status with respect to biologically based limits.
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Information is adequate to support a partial strategy to manage main retained species.
Sufficient data continue to be collected to detect any increase in risk level (e.g. due to changes in the outcome indicator scores or the operation of the fishery or the effectiveness of the strategy). 100 Accurate and verifiable information is available on the catch of all retained species and the consequences for the status of affected populations.
Information is sufficient to quantitatively estimate outcome status with a high degree of certainty.
Information is adequate to support a comprehensive strategy to manage retained species, and evaluate with a high degree of certainty whether the strategy is achieving its objective.
Monitoring of retained species is conducted in sufficient detail to assess ongoing mortalities to all retained species.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.2 Component By-catch 0,2
2.2.1 PI: Outcome Status The fishery does not pose a risk of serious or irreversible 0,333 harm to the bycatch species or species groups and does not
hinder recovery of depleted bycatch species or species groups. 60 Main bycatch species are likely to be within biologically based limits, or if According to ICES there is no evidence that by-catch is an ICES 2009; 100 outside such limits there are mitigation measures in place that are expected issue within FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery. -ICES, 2008c to ensure that the fishery does not hinder recovery and rebuilding. Sorting of catch on board the vessel is prohibited. According to Faroese law discard is prohibited. Interviews -Site visit If the status is poorly known there are measures or practices in place that with FPO members indicate that slipping and discarding protocol; are expected result in the fishery not causing the bycatch species to be happen very rarely and that if it happens the species in biologically based limits or hindering recovery. - Interview with question are herring and mackerel. Therefore, there is a Faroese Ministry 80 Main bycatch species are highly likely to be within biologically based high degree of certainty that by-catch species are within of Fisheries; limits or if outside such limits there is a partial strategy of demonstrably biologically based limits. effective mitigation measures in place such that the fishery does not hinder - Interview with
recovery and rebuilding. Faroe Marine Research Institute 100 There is a high degree of certainty that bycatch species are within biologically based limits.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.2 Component By-catch
2.2.2 PI: Management strategy There is a strategy in place for managing bycatch that is designed to ensure the fishery does not pose a risk of
serious or irreversible harm to bycatch populations. 60 There are measures in place, if necessary, which are expected to maintain There is no explicit strategy in place for managing and ICES 2009; 100 main bycatch species at levels which are highly likely to be within minimising bycatch. However, any bycatch lower the -ICES, 2008c biologically based limits or to ensure that the fishery does not hinder their value of the catch and the skippers make maximum use of recovery. the electronic aids available, and mutual exchange of -Site visit information among skippers whilst fishing, to minimise protocole;
capture of anything other than target species. - Interview with The measures are considered likely to work, based on plausible argument Faroese Ministry (e.g general experience, theory or comparison with similar of Fisheries; fisheries/species). All evidence indicates that bycatch is not an issue within
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80 There is a partial strategy in place, if necessary, for managing bycatch that the FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery showing that - Interview with is expected to maintain main bycatch species at levels which are highly the implicit strategy is successful. Faroe Marine likely to be within biologically based limits or to ensure that the fishery Research Institute does not hinder their recovery.
There is some objective basis for confidence that the partial strategy will work, based on some information directly about the fishery and/or the species involved.
There is some evidence that the partial strategy is being implemented successfully.
100 There is a strategy in place for managing and minimising bycatch.
The strategy is mainly based on information directly about the fishery and/or species involved, and testing supports high confidence that the strategy will work.
There is clear evidence that the strategy is being implemented successfully, and intended changes are occurring. There is some evidence that the strategy is achieving its objective.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.2 Component By-catch 0,2
2.2.3 PI: Information and monitoring Information on the nature and amount of bycatch is 0,333 adequate to determine the risk posed by the fishery and the
effectiveness of the strategy to manage bycatch. 60 Qualitative information is available on the amount of main bycatch species No quantitative information is available on bycatches -ICES 2009; 80 affected by the fishery. However, the qualitative information is adequate to -ICES, 2008c conclude that that bycatch is unlikely to be an issue in the
FPO Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery and no main -Site visit Information is adequate to broadly understand outcome status with respect bycatch species has been identified. protocole; to biologically based limits. - Interview with Faroese Ministry of Fisheries; Information is adequate to support measures to manage bycatch.
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80 Qualitative information and some quantitative information are available on - Interview with the amount of main bycatch species affected by the fishery. Faroe Marine Research Institute Information is sufficient to estimate outcome status with respect to biologically based limits. Information is adequate to support a partial strategy to manage main bycatch species. Sufficient data continue to be collected to detect any increase in risk to main bycatch species (e.g. due to changes in the outcome indicator scores or the operation of the fishery or the effectiveness of the strategy). 100 Accurate and verifiable information is available on the amount of all bycatch and the consequences for the status of affected populations. Information is sufficient to quantitatively estimate outcome status with respect to biologically based limits with a high degree of certainty. Information is adequate to support a comprehensive strategy to manage bycatch, and evaluate with a high degree of certainty whether the strategy is achieving its objective. Monitoring of bycatch data is conducted in sufficient detail to assess ongoing mortalities to all bycatch species.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.3 Component ETP species 0,2
2.3.1 PI: Outcome Status The fishery meets national and international requirements 0,333 for protection of ETP species.
The fishery does not pose a risk of serious or irreversible harm to ETP species and does not hinder recovery of ETP species. 60 Known effects of the fishery are likely to be within limits of national and The fishery is fully compliant with all national and ICES 2009; 100 international requirements for protection of ETP species. international conventions, legislation and agreements to -ICES, 2008c safeguard ETP species.
-Site visit
Known direct effects are unlikely to create unacceptable impacts to ETP protocole; species. There is a high degree of certainty that there are no - Interview with significant detrimental effects of the FPO Atlanto- Faroese Ministry
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80 The effects of the fishery are known and are highly likely to be within Scandian Herring fishery on ETP species of Fisheries; limits of national and international requirements for protection of ETP - Interview with species. Faroe Marine Research Institute Direct effects are highly unlikely to create unacceptable impacts to ETP species.
Indirect effects have been considered and are thought to be unlikely to create unacceptable impacts.
100 There is a high degree of certainty that the effects of the fishery are within limits of national and international requirements for protection of ETP species.
There is a high degree of confidence that there are no significant detrimental effects (direct and indirect) of the fishery on ETP species.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.3 Component ETP species 0,2
2.3.2 PI: Management strategy The fishery has in place precautionary management 0,333 strategies designed to:
- meet national and international requirements; - ensure the fishery does not pose a risk of serious or irreversible harm to ETP species; - ensure the fishery does not hinder recovery of ETP species; and - minimise mortality of ETP species.
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60 There are measures in place that minimise mortality, and are expected to The fishery is fully compliant with all national and -Site visit 90 be highly likely to achieve national and international requirements for the international conventions, legislation and agreements to protocole;
protection of ETP species. safeguard ETP species. - Interview with Faroese Ministry of Fisheries; The measures are considered likely to work, based on plausible argument FPO has no formalised strategy for managing the impact (eg general experience, theory or comparison with similar on ETP species. Information available indicates that there - Interview with fisheries/species). is very limited interaction with ETP species and supports Faroe Marine the high confidence that the way the FPO Atlanto- Research Institute
Scandian Herring fishery is operated minimise mortality of 80 There is a strategy in place for managing the fishery’s impact on ETP species, ETP species. including measures to minimise mortality, that is designed to be highly likely to achieve national and international requirements for the protection of ETP species. No concerns have been raised by national or international statutory or voluntary organisations that pelagic trawling There is an objective basis for confidence that the strategy will work, based on and purse seining in the Norwegian Sea gives specific or some information directly about the fishery and/or the species involved. undue cause for concern.
There is evidence that the strategy is being implemented successfully.
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100 There is a comprehensive strategy in place for managing the fishery’s impact on ETP species, including measures to minimise mortality, that is designed to achieve above national and international requirements for the protection of ETP species.
The strategy is mainly based on information directly about the fishery and/or species involved, and a quantitative analysis supports high confidence that the strategy will work.
There is clear evidence that the strategy is being implemented successfully, and intended changes are occurring. There is evidence that the strategy is achieving its objective.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.3 Component ETP species 0,2
2.3.3 PI: Information and monitoring Relevant information is collected to support the 0,333 management of fishery impacts on ETP species, including:
- information for the development of the management strategy; - information to assess the effectiveness of the management strategy; and - information to determine the outcome status of ETP species. 60 Information is adequate to broadly understand the impact of the fishery on Information available indicates that there is very limited -Site visit 80 ETP species. interaction with ETP species. protocol; - Interview with Faroese Ministry Information is adequate to support measures to manage the impacts on No concerns have been raised by national or international of Fisheries; ETP species. statutory or voluntary organisations that pelagic trawling and purse seining in the Norwegian Sea gives specific or - Interview with Information is sufficient to qualitatively estimate the fishery related undue cause for concern. Faroe Marine mortality of ETP species.
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80 Information is sufficient to determine whether the fishery may be a threat Research Institute to protection and recovery of the ETP species, and if so, to measure trends
and support a full strategy to manage impacts.
Sufficient data are available to allow fishery related mortality and the impact of fishing to be quantitatively estimated for ETP species. 100 Information is sufficient to quantitatively estimate outcome status with a high degree of certainty.
Information is adequate to support a comprehensive strategy to manage impacts, minimize mortality and injury of ETP species, and evaluate with a high degree of certainty whether a strategy is achieving its objectives.
Accurate and verifiable information is available on the magnitude of all impacts, mortalities and injuries and the consequences for the status of ETP species.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.4 Component Habitat 0,2
2.4.1 PI: Outcome Status The fishery does not cause serious or irreversible harm to 0,333 habitat structure, considered on a regional or bioregional basis, and function. 60 The fishery is unlikely to reduce habitat structure and function App. 50% of the FPO catches of Atlanto-Scandian Herring -Site visit 100 to a point where there would be serious or irreversible harm. is taken by pelagic pair trawl, 25% by single trawl and protocole; 25% by purse seine. The Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery - Interview with takes place in waters of depth of more than 1500 m. The 80 The fishery is highly unlikely to reduce habitat structure and Faroese Ministry maximum depth the FPO vessels operate their trawl when function to a point where there would be serious or of Fisheries; irreversible harm. fishing Atlanto-Scandian Herring is 400 m. There is therefore no contact with the seabed or seabed habitats. - Interview with 100 There is evidence that the fishery is highly unlikely to reduce Faroe Marine habitat structure and function to a point where there would be Research Institute serious or irreversible harm. - ICES 2008c;
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.4 Component Habitat 0,2
2.4.2 PI: Management strategy There is a strategy in place that is designed to ensure the 0,333 fishery does not pose a risk of serious or irreversible harm
to habitat types. 60 There are measures in place, if necessary, that are expected to achieve the App. 50% of the FPO catches of Atlanto-Scandian Herring -Site visit 100 Habitat Outcome 80 level of performance. is taken by pelagic pair trawl, 25% by single trawl and protocol; 25% by purse seine. The Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery - Interview with takes place in waters of depth of more than 1500 m. The Faroese Ministry The measures are considered likely to work, based on plausible argument maximum depth the FPO vessels operate their trawl when of Fisheries; (e.g general experience, theory or comparison with similar fishing Atlanto-Scandian Herring is 400 m. There is fisheries/habitats). therefore no contact with the seabed or seabed habitats. - Interview with
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80 There is a partial strategy in place, if necessary, that is expected to achieve Faroe Marine the Habitat Outcome 80 level of performance or above. Research Institute - ICES 2008c; There is some objective basis for confidence that the partial strategy will work, based on some information directly about the fishery and/or habitats involved.
There is some evidence that the partial strategy is being implemented successfully. 100 There is a strategy in place for managing the impact of the fishery on habitat types.
The strategy is mainly based on information directly about the fishery and/or habitats involved, and testing supports high confidence that the strategy will work.
There is clear evidence that the strategy is being implemented successfully, and intended changes are occurring. There is some evidence that the strategy is achieving its objective.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.4 Component Habitat 0,2
2.4.3 PI: Information and monitoring Information is adequate to determine the risk posed to 0,333 habitat types by the fishery and the effectiveness of the
strategy to manage impacts on habitat types. 60 There is a basic understanding of the types and distribution of main App. 50% of the FPO catches of Atlanto-Scandian Herring -Site visit 100 habitats in the area of the fishery. is taken by pelagic pair trawl, 25% by single trawl and protocol; 25% by purse seine. The Atlanto-Scandian Herring fishery - Interview with takes place in waters of depth of more than 1500 m. The Faroese Ministry Information is adequate to broadly understand the main impacts of gear maximum depth the FPO vessels operate their trawl when of Fisheries; use on the main habitats, including spatial extent of interaction. fishing Atlanto-Scandian Herring is 400 m. There is
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80 The nature, distribution and vulnerability of all main habitat types in the therefore no contact with the seabed or seabed habitats. - Interview with fishery area are known at a level of detail relevant to the scale and Faroe Marine intensity of the fishery. Research Institute - ICES 2008c; Sufficient data are available to allow the nature of the impacts of the fishery on habitat types to be identified and there is reliable information on the spatial extent, timing and location of use of the fishing gear.
Sufficient data continue to be collected to detect any increase in risk to habitat (e.g. due to changes in the outcome indicator scores or the operation of the fishery or the effectiveness of the measures). 100 The distribution of habitat types is known over their range, with particular attention to the occurrence of vulnerable habitat types.
Changes in habitat distributions over time are measured.
The physical impacts of the gear on the habitat types have been quantified fully.
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2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.5 Component Eco-system 0,2 2.5.1 PI: Outcome status The fishery does not cause serious or irreversible harm to the 0,333 key elements of ecosystem structure and function.
60 The fishery is unlikely to disrupt the key elements underlying Atlanto-Scandian Herring is one of the main predators on - Site visit 100 ecosystem structure and function to a point where there would zooplankton in the Norwegian Sea and is itself an protocol; important prey for a large number of top predators. - Interview with be a serious or irreversible harm. Because of the size of the stock it most likely has a major Faroese Ministry impact on the ecosystem. The main impact of the herring 80 The fishery is highly unlikely to disrupt the key elements of Fisheries; underlying ecosystem structure and function to a point where fishery on the ecosystem is therefore believed to be the indirect effect of the removal of the target species may - Interview with there would be a serious or irreversible harm. have on the prey and predator species. To date, no specific Faroe Marine
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100 There is evidence that the fishery is highly unlikely to disrupt concerns have been expressed that the current harvest and Research Institute recent exploitation patterns have posed an unacceptable the key elements underlying ecosystem structure and function - ICES 2008c; risk to herring predator populations. The stock is exploited to a point where there would be a serious or irreversible harm. sustainable with a fishing mortality that is less than the natural mortality. The indirect effect on the ecosystem of the removal of the herring is therefore highly unlikely to disrupt the key elements underlying ecosystem structure and function to a point where there would be a serious or irreversible harm.
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2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.5 Component Eco-system 0,2
2.5.2 PI: Management strategy There are measures in place to ensure the fishery does not 0,333 pose a risk of serious or irreversible harm to ecosystem
structure and function. 60 There are measures in place, if necessary, that take into account potential The fishery is subject to internationally agreed -Site visit 80 impacts of the fishery on key elements of the ecosystem. management plan. The management plan including the protocol; harvest control rule adopted by the coastal States only - Interview with addresses the direct impact of the fishery on the Atlanto- Faroese Ministry The measures are considered likely to work, based on plausible argument Scandian Herring stock and does not take into account of Fisheries; (eg, general experience, theory or comparison with similar fisheries/ possible indirect impact the removal of the herring may ecosystems). have on the Norwegian Sea ecosystem. - Interview with
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80 There is a partial strategy in place, if necessary, that takes into account Faroe Marine available information and is expected to restrain impacts of the fishery on Research Institute There is, however, no indication that the current the ecosystem so as to achieve the Ecosystem Outcome 80 level of management strategy have resulted in a risk of serious or - ICES 2008c; performance. irreversible harm to the Norwegian Sea ecosystem and function. The partial strategy is considered likely to work, based on plausible argument (eg, general experience, theory or comparison with similar fisheries/ ecosystems).
There is some evidence that the measures comprising the partial strategy are being implemented successfully. 100 There is a strategy that consists of a plan, containing measures to address all main impacts of the fishery on the ecosystem, and at least some of these measures are in place. The plan and measures are based on well-understood functional relationships between the fishery and the Components and elements of the ecosystem.
This plan provides for development of a full strategy that restrains impacts on the ecosystem to ensure the fishery does not cause serious or irreversible harm.
The measures are considered likely to work based on prior experience, plausible argument or information directly from the fishery/ecosystems involved.
There is evidence that the measures are being implemented successfully.
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2 Principle Fishing operations should allow for the maintenance of the structure, productivity, function and diversity of the ecosystem (including habitat and associated dependent and ecologically related species) on which the fishery depends. 2.5 Component Eco-system 0,2 2.5.3 PI: Information and monitoring There is adequate knowledge of the impacts of the fishery on the 0,333 ecosystem.
60 Information is adequate to identify the key elements of the ecosystem (e.g. trophic Information is adequate to broadly understand the key -ICES 2009; 90 structure and function, community composition, productivity pattern and elements of the Norwegian Sea ecosystem. biodiversity). -ICES, 2008c
-Skjoldal, 2004 Interactions between all fisheries in the North East Atlantic Main impacts of the fishery on these key ecosystem elements can be inferred from and the North East Atlantic ecosystem are kept under existing information, but have not been investigated in detail.
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80 Information is adequate to broadly understand the functions of the key elements of regular review by ICES and the impact of the fisheries on the ecosystem. the Atlanto-Scandian Herring,bycatch, retained and ETP Main impacts of the fishery on these key ecosystem elements can be inferred from species and habitats are identified. existing information, but may not have been investigated in detail. The main functions of the Components (i.e. target, Bycatch, Retained and ETP species and Habitats) in the ecosystem are known. Sufficient information is available on the impacts of the fishery on these Components to allow some of the main consequences for the ecosystem to be inferred. Sufficient data continue to be collected to detect any increase in risk level (e.g. due to changes in the outcome indicator scores or the operation of the fishery or the effectiveness of the measures). 100 Information is adequate to broadly understand the key elements of the ecosystem. Main interactions between the fishery and these ecosystem elements can be inferred from existing information, and have been investigated. The impacts of the fishery on target, Bycatch, Retained and ETP species and Habitats are identified and the main functions of these Components in the ecosystem are understood. Sufficient information is available on the impacts of the fishery on the Components and elements to allow the main consequences for the ecosystem to be inferred. Information is sufficient to support the development of strategies to manage ecosystem impacts.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
3 Principle The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable. 3.1 Component Governance and policy 0,5 3.1.1 PI: Legal and/or customary framework The management system exists within an appropriate and 0,25 effective legal and/or customary framework which ensures
that it:
- Is capable of delivering sustainable fisheries in accordance with MSC Principles 1 and 2; - Observes the legal rights created explicitly or established by custom of people dependent on fishing for food or livelihood; and - Incorporates an appropriate dispute resolution framework.
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60 The management system is generally consistent with local, national or The management system in place for the FPO herring See references in 85 international laws or standards that are aimed at achieving sustainable fisheries in the North-East Atlantic the comment fisheries in accordance with MSC Principles 1 and 2. field. (ICES division areas I, IIa, IIb, V& XIV) incorporates the The management system incorporates or is subject by law to a mechanism following legal instruments: for the resolution of legal disputes arising within the system.
Although the management authority or fishery may be subject to International level: continuing court challenges, it is not indicating a disrespect or defiance of the law by repeatedly violating the same law or regulation necessary for 1. NEAFC “New Convention” (1982 with amendments the sustainability for the fishery. in 2004 and 2006) 2. NEAFC Scheme of Control and Enforcement The management system has a mechanism to generally respect the legal (February 2008) rights created explicitly or established by custom of people dependent on
fishing for food or livelihood in a manner consistent with the objectives of 3. NEAFC recommendation N VI, 2009, MSC Principles 1 and 2. 4. Coastal State Agreement between the European Community, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway, and the Russian Federation on the management of the Atlanto- Scandian Herring stock in the North-East Atlantic for 2009 (dated 13 November 2008).
5. Bilateral Agreements: - Faroe Islands-Norway - Faroe Islands-Russia - FO-Iceland - FO and EU
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80 The management system is generally consistent with local, national or National level: international laws or standards that are aimed at achieving sustainable 1. Faroese Fisheries Law of 1994 with supporting fisheries in accordance with MSC Principles 1 and 2. regulations;
2. Vessel Licenses The management system incorporates or is subject by law to a transparent
mechanism for the resolution of legal disputes which is considered to be effective in dealing with most issues and that is appropriate to the context FPO level: of the fishery. 1. FPO by-laws
2. FPO Code of Conduct ( in preparation) The management system or fishery is attempting to comply in a timely The legal basis (all elements) is consistent with and fashion with binding judicial decisions arising from any legal challenges. actively cater for sustainable fisheries in accordance with MSC Principles 1 and 2 The management system has a mechanism to observe the legal rights created explicitly or established by custom of people dependent on fishing for food or livelihood in a manner consistent with the objectives of MSC There are no legal rights on people dependent on fishing Principles 1 and 2. for food and livelihood that applies to the FPO herring
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100 The management system is generally consistent with local, national or fisheries in the North-east Atlantic. international laws or standards that are aimed at achieving sustainable
fisheries in accordance with MSC Principles 1 and 2. The mechanism for resolution of disputes incorporated
into the management system are transparent but are not The management system incorporates or is subject by law to a transparent proven and found effective. This can be indicated by the mechanism for the resolution of legal disputes that is appropriate to the unresolved disputes over TAC sharing in 2003-2005. context of the fishery and has been tested and proven to be effective. The management system is not proactive enough and there is no formal agreed TAC allocation key. The management system or fishery acts proactively to avoid legal disputes Thus, it is the view of the assessment team that the score or rapidly implements binding judicial decisions arising from legal should be 85. challenges.
The management system has a mechanism to formally commit to the legal rights created explicitly or established by custom on people dependent on fishing for food and livelihood in a manner consistent with the objectives of MSC Principles 1 and 2.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
3 Principle The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable. Component Governance and policy 0,5 3.1.2 PI: Consultation, roles and responsibilities The management system has effective consultation 0,25 processes that are open to interested and affected parties.
The roles and responsibilities of organisations and
individuals who are involved in the management process are clear and understood by all relevant parties. 60 Organisations and individuals involved in the management process have Stakeholders involved in the management of the FPO Agreed Record of 100 been identified. Functions, roles and responsibilities are generally Atlanto-Scandian herring fisheries are identified. Their conclusions of understood. roles and responsibilities including the consultation Fisheries process are defined in the legal instruments for the consultations on
management of the fisheries (see PI 3.1.1). Consultation the management The management system includes consultation processes that obtain fora and areas for consultations include: of the Norwegian relevant information from the main affected parties, including local spring-spawning
knowledge, to inform the management system. (Atlanto-
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80 Organisations and individuals involved in the management process have International level: Scandian) Herring been identified. Functions, roles and responsibilities are explicitly defined stock in the ICES: There is a formal process established for obtaining and well understood for key areas of responsibility and interaction. North-East scientific advise on Atlanto-Scandian herring Atlantic for 2009 fisheries management
The management system includes consultation processes that regularly Coastal States: There is no formalized stakeholder seek and accept relevant information, including local knowledge. The consultation system in place. However, there is an management system demonstrates consideration of the information informal consultation process in place and NGO’s obtained. are invited to attend meetings as observers. National level: The consultation process provides opportunity for all interested and - Advisory Committee on commercial fisheries, which affected parties to be involved. includes all relevant stakeholders (10-12 persons) 100 Organisations and individuals involved in the management process have been identified. Functions, roles and responsibilities are explicitly defined and well understood for all areas of responsibility and interaction. FPO: -FPO is a sub-division of Faroese Vessel Owners Association (FVOA), which organises vessel owners in the The management system includes consultation processes that regularly seek and Faroe Islands. FPO and FVOA are recognised as experts to accept relevant information, including local knowledge. The management system demonstrates consideration of the information and explains how it is used or not the Faroese Government on national and international used. matters related to management of the Atlanto-Scandian Herring fisheries.
The consultation process provides opportunity and encouragement for all interested and affected parties to be involved, and facilitates their effective engagement. The management system demonstrates consideration of information and provides opportunity for interested parties to participate in consultation process. All ICES reports are publicly available.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
3 Principle The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable. 3.1 Component Governance and policy 0,5
3.1.3 PI: Long term objectives The management policy has clear long-term objectives to 0,25 guide decision-making that are consistent with MSC
Principles and Criteria, and incorporates the precautionary approach. 60 Long-term objectives to guide decision-making, consistent with MSC Long term objectives consistent with MSC Principles and Agreed Record of 100 Principles and Criteria and the precautionary approach, are implicit within Criteria and the precautionary approach are required in the conclusions of management policy. Agreed Record of conclusions of Fisheries consultations Fisheries on the management of the Atlanto-Scandian Herring stock consultations on 80 Clear long-term objectives that guide decision-making, consistent with in the North-East Atlantic for 2009. the management MSC Principles and Criteria and the precautionary approach are explicit of the Atlanto -
within management policy. .Scandian Herring 100 Clear long-term objectives that guide decision-making, consistent with stock in the MSC Principles and Criteria and the precautionary approach, are explicit North-East within and required by management policy. Atlantic for 2009
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3.1 Component Governance and policy 0,5
3.1.4 PI: Incentives for sustainable fishing The management system provides economic and social 0,25 incentives for sustainable fishing and does not operate with
subsidies that contribute to unsustainable fishing. 60 The management system provides for incentives that are consistent with The rights-based management (Vessel License System -Fishing permits : 100 achieving the outcomes expressed by MSC Principles 1 and 2. with a quota allocation system) for the Faroese Atlanto- -NEAFC Control Scandian Herring Fishery provides incentives for FPO and enforcement members to conduct fisheries in a sustainable manner. The Scheme; 80 The management system provides for incentives that are consistent with vessel license system gives them a long-term planning achieving the outcomes expressed by MSC Principles 1 and 2, and seeks to horizon (no “race for fish”) and guarantees them a fixed -Law N28 of ensure that negative incentives do not arise. share of the future TAC on Atlanto-Scandian herring Faroese Fisheries, stock. Faroe Parliament
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100 The management system provides for incentives that are consistent with 10 mach 1994. achieving the outcomes expressed by MSC Principles 1 and 2, and The FPO vessels do not receive subsidies that contributes explicitly considers incentives in a regular review of management policy to unsustainable fishing or procedures to ensure that they do not contribute to unsustainable fishing Protocol from the practices. Faroese Fisheries Effective Monitoring, Control and Surveillance is an Inspection. integrated part of the international and national management system for the Atlanto-Scandian Herring Fisheries, including severe penalties for illegal fishing practises, as confiscation of fishing licence in addition to confiscation of catch, fishing gear and financial penalty.
NEAFC Scheme on control and enforcement supports MSC principles and criteria.
The enforcement of the regulations under which members of the FPO conducts their fisheries (Faroese, Norwegian, Icelandic, NEAFC regulatory area) related to the Atlanto- Scandian herring are highly effective as assessed by the assessment team.
The management framework is subject to regular review at national (Faroe Islands, Norway, Iceland) as well as international (NEAFC) level.
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INDICATORS AND GUIDEPOSTS Comments Ref. Weight Score
3 Principle The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable. 3.2 Component Fishery- specific management system 0,5
3.2.1 PI: Fishery-specific objectives The fishery has clear, specific objectives designed to 0,2 achieve the outcomes expressed by MSC’s Principles 1
and 2. 60 Objectives, which are broadly consistent with achieving the outcomes There are well-defined and measurable short and long term - Faroese Quota 90 expressed by MSC’s Principles 1 and 2, are implicit within the fishery’s objectives for the Atlanto-Scandian herring fishery which Regulation with management system. are consistent with MSC Principles 1 and 2. The objectives Faroese License are met in the setting of the annual TAC System;
80 Short and long term objectives, which are consistent with achieving the - Faroese outcomes expressed by MSC’s Principles 1 and 2, are explicit within the The objectives at the FPO level are to keep the annual Fisheries Act; fishery’s management system. landings of FPO vessels at or below the levels specified in
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100 Well defined and measurable short and long term objectives, which are the individual vessel licenses and ensure that fisheries are demonstrably consistent with achieving the outcomes expressed by MSC’s conducted in compliance with different national and - Agreed Record Principles 1 and 2, are explicit within the fishery’s management system. international regulations. of conclusions of Fisheries consultations on The quotas allocated to the FPO vessels are shares of the the management Faroese quota for the Atlanto-Scandian herring agreed of the Norwegian within the framework of NEAFC and bilateral spring-spawning arrangements of coastal states. (Atlanto- Scandian) Herring stock in the The management system is couched in terms of what to do North-East when the stock falls towards or below critical reference Atlantic for 2009; levels rather than stating explicitly how to maintain high biomass and yield target levels. There is no formal multiannual agreement for allocation of TAC between - NEAFC parties. Thus, it is in the view of assessment team that the recommendation score of 90 is more appropriate. N VI, 2009.
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3 Principle The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable. 3.2 Component Fishery- specific management system 0,5
3.2.2 PI: Decision-making processes The fishery-specific management system includes 0,2 effective decision-making processes that result in measures
and strategies to achieve the objectives. 60 There are informal decision-making processes that result in measures and There are well established adaptive decision-making - Protocol from 100 strategies to achieve the fishery-specific objectives. processes that meet the objectives of the Atlanto-Scandian FPO site-visit, herring fishery. These processes include the setting of the Decision-making processes respond to serious issues identified in relevant TAC on the basis of scientific advice from ICES as well as research, monitoring, evaluation and consultation, in a transparent, timely the national quotas for the Atlanto-Scandian herring - Interview with and adaptive manner and take some account of the wider implications of fisheries plus bilateral arrangements between costal states, Faroese fisheries decisions. which include agreements on access to fish in waters of inspection and other parties. Faroese Ministry
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80 There are established decision-making processes that result in measures and on Fisheries. strategies to achieve the fishery-specific objectives. The processes also include appropriate MCS (monitoring Decision-making processes respond to serious and other important issues identified control and surveillance) strategies and measures. in relevant research, monitoring, evaluation and consultation, in a transparent, timely and adaptive manner and take account of the wider implications of decisions. The decision-making processes are transparent and timely Decision-making processes use the precautionary approach and are based on best and are based on the best available scientific knowledge. available information.
Explanations are provided for any actions or lack of action associated with findings and relevant recommendations emerging from research, monitoring, evaluation and There is a formal reporting system insuring that decisions review activity. taken at other coastal-states level affecting Faroese vessels fishing for Atlanto-Scandian Herring are communicated to 100 There are established decision-making processes that result in measures and strategies to achieve the fishery-specific objectives. Faroese authorities and thereby FPO members in a timely manner. Decision-making processes respond to all issues identified in relevant research, monitoring, evaluation and consultation, in a transparent, timely and adaptive manner and take account of the wider implications of decisions. Meeting reports are published following NEAFC meetings Decision-making processes use the precautionary approach and are based on best and EU council of Minister meetings. These reports cover available information. all agenda items discussed. Formal reporting to all interested stakeholders describes how the management system responded to findings and relevant recommendations emerging from research, monitoring, evaluation and review activity.
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3 Principle The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable. 3.2 Component Fishery- specific management system 0,5
3.2.3 PI: Compliance and enforcement Monitoring, control and surveillance mechanisms ensure 0,2 the fishery’s management measures are enforced and
complied with.
60 Monitoring, control and surveillance mechanisms exist, are implemented At the international and national level there is a - Fishing permits; 90 in the fishery under assessment and there is a reasonable expectation that comprehensive MCS system implemented for the Atlanto-
they are effective. Scandian herring fisheries. The system has been significantly strengthened in recent years. - Protocol from
Faroese Fisheries
Sanctions to deal with non-compliance exist and there is some evidence Inspection; that they are applied. The MCS system has sanctions to deal with non-
compliance ranging from rebuke via fines and confiscation
of catch and gear to loss of license. -ICES 2008 Fishers are generally thought to comply with the management system for
the fishery under assessment, including, when required, providing information of importance to the effective management of the fishery. The ICES working group has expressed concern that there Bilateral
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80 A monitoring, control and surveillance system has been implemented in the fishery is still a small residual element of unreported landings. agreements : under assessment and has demonstrated an ability to enforce relevant management measures, strategies and/or rules. - FO and Norway, All enforcement agencies are required to keep records and - FO and EU provide annual reports of inspections made and the level of (measures to be Sanctions to deal with non-compliance exist, are consistently applied and thought to provide effective deterrence. compliance found within the industry. applied concerning
weighing and Some evidence exists to demonstrate fishers comply with the management system At the site-assessment 5 cases of non-compliance raised inspection of under assessment, including, when required, providing information of importance against FPO members were identified since 2006. Two of pelagic landings). to the effective management of the fishery. these cases were not settled at the time of the assessment.
There is no evidence of systematic non-compliance. These 5 cases do not represent the systematic non- 100 A comprehensive monitoring, control and surveillance system has been compliance, but come from the different forms of non- implemented in the fishery under assessment and has demonstrated a consistent compliance: ability to enforce relevant management measures, strategies and/or rules.
2006- 300 t Quota overshoot Sanctions to deal with non-compliance exist, are consistently applied and demonstrably provide effective deterrence. 2006- Catch was not registered in log-book; correct amount of catch was reported at entry/exit control. There is a high degree of confidence that fishers comply with the management 2007- 18% difference between what was registered in log- system under assessment, including, providing information of importance to the book and landed (sales-note) effective management of the fishery. 2008-Fishing in temporary closed area.
2009- Dumping of fish offal after processing in the There is no evidence of systematic non-compliance. Norwegian zone.
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3 Principle The fishery is subject to an effective management system that respects local, national and international laws and standards and incorporates institutional and operational frameworks that require use of the resource to be responsible and sustainable. 3.2 Component Fishery- specific management system 0,5 3.2.4 PI: Research plan The fishery has a research plan that addresses the 0,2 information needs of management. 60 Research is undertaken, as required, to achieve the objectives consistent ICES coordinates a coherent and strategic approach to all - ICES 2008 100 with MSC’s Principles 1 and 2. aspects of relevant research with respect to P1 and P2.
Plans are disseminated through the annual ICES council Research results are available to interested parties. meetings, results are published as working group and - ACOM 2008 80 A research plan provides the management system with a strategic approach ACOM reports.
to research and reliable and timely information sufficient to achieve the objectives consistent with MSC’s Principles 1 and 2. With respect to P3 long term plans are discussed and Research results are disseminated to all interested parties in a timely prepared at the inter-governmental level, not least fashion. meetings of NEAFC. The plans frequently include 100 A comprehensive research plan provides the management system with a provision for requesting and/or integrating ICES scientific coherent and strategic approach to research across P1, P2 and P3, and advice. reliable and timely information sufficient to achieve the objectives consistent with MSC’s Principles 1 and 2.
Research plan and results are disseminated to all interested parties in a timely fashion and are widely and publicly available.
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Component Fishery- specific management system 0,5
3.2.5 PI: Monitoring and management performance evaluation There is a system for monitoring and evaluating the 0,2 performance of the fishery-specific management system
against its objectives. There is effective and timely review of the fishery-specific management system. 60 The fishery has in place mechanisms to evaluate some parts of the There is international cooperation within NEAFC between -NEAFC control 90 management system and is subject to occasional internal review. control authorities from all key fishing nations. This and enforcement cooperation includes evaluation of MCS system. scheme;
- Bilateral 80 The fishery has in place mechanisms to evaluate key parts of the arrangements; management system and is subject to regular internal and occasional Bilateral arrangements between FO, Norway and EU external review. includes agreements on MCS. There is a Working Group
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100 The fishery has in place mechanisms to evaluate all parts of the of control experts set up by the parties, which address all management system and is subject to regular internal and external review. issues of relevance to MCS.
At the national level (Faroe Islands) there is a MCS system in place that fully meets international requirements.
The management plan, including the harvest control rule is regularly evaluated by ICES.
All parts of the management system are being evaluated and subject to internal and external review. However not all parts of the system are being reviewed in a regular manner.
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