Marine Stewardship Council Notification Report Please tick to confirm the client has completed the MSC Client Document Checklist and this has been submitted as part of the Full Assessment Announcement documents, see FCR 7.8.1 (to tick box, double click on box and select ‘checked’).
Name of Fishery Russian and Estonian Lake Peipus perch and pike-perch
Target Species Perch, pike-perch Common Name(s) Species Latin Perca fluvialtilis, Sander lucioperca Name Method of Catch Gillnets, trapnets, Danish seines (mutniks)
Description of One stock of perch and one stock of pike-perch in Lake Peipus Stock Location of Fishery Russian and Estonian territorial waters of Lake Peipus, FAO area 5
The Russian and Estonian Lake Peipus Perch and Pike-perch Fishery occurs on Lake Peipus (Pskovsko-Chudskoe Ozero in Russian) that is located on the border of the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation. Lake Peipus is 2 the fourth largest European lake, with a surface area of 3,555 km , and is made up of three parts: the largest, northern part is called Lake Peipsi (Lake Chudskoe in Russian), the middle part is called Lake Lämmijärv (Lake Teploe in Russian) and the southern part is called Lake Pihkva (Lake Pskovskoe in Russian).
55% of the area of Lake Peipsi, 50% of Lake Lämmijärv and 1.3% of Lake Pihkva are within Estonia; the rest of the lake, including almost all of Lake Pihkva, is within Russia.
Fishing Season The fishery operates all year (mutnik fishing occurs only in autumn).
Statement that the Marine certification LLC declares that Russian and Estonian Lake Peipus perch fishery is within and pike-perch fishery is within the scope of the MSC fisheries standards, in scope and other particular it: factors • does not target amphibians, reptiles, birds, or mammals; • does not operate under a controversial unilateral exemption to an international agreement; • does not include any entity that has been successfully prosecuted for a forced labour violation in the last 2 years; • is not overwhelmed with disputes and there is a mechanism for resolving disputes; • is not an enhanced fishery; • does not use destructive fishing practices; • overlaps with another MSC certified and under assessment fisheries; • does not catch inseperable or practically inseperable (IPI) species; • does not target introduced species; • hasn’t failed any assessment within the last 2 years Marine certification LLC has carried out the pre-assessment of this fishery.
Unit of Assessment There are 8 UoAs for this fishery: (UoA) Stock Fishing Fishing Other eligible fishers gears operators (UoA) (UoC) Gillnets Commercial fishermen and working in Russian waters of trapnets Lake Peipus Commercial fishermen working in Estonian waters of Perch AS Japs fishers Lake Peipus Danish Commercial fishermen seines working in Russian waters of (mutniks) Lake Peipus Commercial fishermen working in Estonian waters of Lake Peipus Gillnets Commercial fishermen and working in Russian waters of trapnets Lake Peipus Commercial fishermen Pike- AS Japs fishers working in Estonian waters of perch Lake Peipus Danish Commercial fishermen seines working in Russian waters of (mutniks) Lake Peipus Commercial fishermen working in Estonian waters of Lake Peipus
Unit of Certification The Unit of Certification (UoC) includes AS Japs fishers harvesting perch and (UoC) pike-perch in the Russian and Estonian parts of Lake Peipus using trapnets, gillnets and Danish seines (mutniks).
Client Name and AS Japs Contact Details Address: 80041, Estonia, Parnu, J.W. Jannseni 36a
Contact details: Manager Arved Soovik, [email protected], tel. +3724459600
Client Group AS Japs, LLC “Pskovshchina’s Fish”
Other Eligible Other eligible fishers include all other Russian and Estonian fishers from Fishers outside the client group using trapnets, gillnets and Danish seines (mutniks) to catch perch and pike-perch in Lake Peipus.
Fishing Operators Fishing operators include AS Japs fishers (including ones already contracted by AS Japs) holding quotas to harvest perch and pike-perch.
Certificate Sharing The Client will not share the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) fishery Mechanism certificate to other eligible fishers.
Risk Based Certification will not require applying RBF methodology. Framework
Information to identify Small Scale Fisheries Gear type Percentage of vessels Percentage of fishing with length < 15m activity carried out within 12nm of shore Gillnets >90% Up to 100% Trapnets >90% Up to 100% Danish seine (mutnik) >90% Up to 100%
Enhanced No human interventions in the natural production system associated with the Fisheries fishery identified at the moment.
Management Management of fisheries in Lake Peipus is carried out primarily under the System Intergovernmental Commission for fisheries between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Estonia. Specific regulation and enforcement is carried out separately in each country, but with reporting back to the Russian/Estonian Commission (see the pre-assessment report for more detailed information).
Catch Data TAC by UoAs for 2017:
UoA 1 (Russia – perch – gillnets/trapnets): TAC – 2482, 25 t; UoA share – 1300 t; UoC share – up to 1300; total green weight catch by UoC – 372,7 t (2016) / not known (2017) UoA 2 (Russia – perch – mutnik): TAC – 2482, 25 t; UoA share – 1300 t; UoC share – up to 1300; total green weight catch by UoC – 418,2 t (2016) / 167,4 t (2017) UoA 3 (Russia – pike-perch – gillnets/trapnets): TAC – 1846,25 t; UoA share – 980 t; UoC share – up to 980 t; total green weight catch by UoC – 528,3 t (2016) / not known (2017) UoA 4 (Russia – pike-perch – mutnik): TAC – 1846,25 t; UoA share – 980 t; UoC share – up to 980 t; total green weight catch by UoC – 144,2 t (2016) / 273,3 t (2017) UoA 5 (Estonia – perch – gillnets/trapnets): TAC – 2482, 25 t; UoA share – 1182,25 t; UoC share – up to 1182,25 t; total green weight catch by UoC – 716,03 t (2016) / 602,10 t (2017) UoA 6 (Estonia – perch – mutnik): TAC – 2482, 25 t; UoA share – 1182,25 t; UoC share – up to 1182,25 t; total green weight catch by UoC – 277,97 t (2016) / 58,15 t (2017) UoA 7 (Estonia – pike-perch – gillnets/trapnets): TAC – 1846,25 t; UoA share – 866,25 t; UoC share – up to 866,25 t; total green weight catch by UoC – 574,95 t (2016) / 609,07 t (2017) UoA 8 (Estonia – pike-perch – mutnik): TAC – 1846,25 t; UoA share – 866,25 t; UoC share – up to 866,25 t; total green weight catch by UoC – 1143,10 t (2016) / 226,91 t (2017)
History of the Lake Peipus is shallow, mean depth 7.1m, maximum 15.3m. The lake is Fishery continuous with Warm Lake and Lake Pskov. The lake surface area may increase by 780km2 in spring when the water level may be 1m higher. Such variations in level provide important breeding areas for many species, including burbot and pike. According to OECD classifications, the lake is eutrophic. It is covered by ice from December to April, during which time there may be oxygen deficiency at the lake bed. Main pikeperch and bream spawning areas are located in south Lake Peipus and in Lake Pskov. Perch will spawn around the lakes, but the southern part is most favorable. These key spawning areas are subject to seasonal closures. Lake Peipus is shared between Estonia and Russia, and in the post-Soviet period (since early 1990s), fisheries management has been based on international Estonian-Russian agreements, and from 1994 onwards the co- operative management programme is agreed annually by the Intergovernmental Estonian-Russian Fishery Commission (ERFC).
As Lake Peipus has become more eutrophic, the abundance of pike-perch has increased dramatically. Since the late 1950s to early 1980s, the catch of pike- perch catch averaged only 15 t per year (<0.5% of the total annual catch in the lake). By the early 2000s, though, the annual catch of pike-perch ranged between 747 t and 3,151 t per year, equivalent to 30–40% of the total catch in the lake. Perch, in general, followed the same trends as pike-perch, but their population currently has a somewhat better status than pike-perch.
Today the lake supports a significant commercial fishery, with over 5,000 t of different fish species taken annually. Perch and pike-perch are the most important species, together comprising more than 50% of total
The main commercial fishing gears on Lake Peipus are small-mesh gillnets, large-mesh gillnets, trapnets, line of traps, and Danish seines. It is understood that small-mesh gillnets are used mainly early in the year, inshore, to target roach, while large mesh gillnets are required to be used at least 1,000 m from shore and are prohibited from early May to early September. Large-mesh gillnets are understood to be used in all parts of Lake Peipus, as well as under the ice during the winter.
Other Fisheries in Lake Peipus is shared between Russia and Estonia. The Estonian perch and the Area pikeperch gill-net and trap-net fishery is certified. The Russian perch and pike- perch gillnet , trapnet and mutnik fishery is under assessment. External Influences No serious environmental issues identified at the stage of the pre-assessment.
Main Commercial Perch (whole; fillet with skin and skinned) and pike-perch (whole; gutted; fillet Market with skin and skinned) sold to Denmark, Germany, France, US, the Netherlands, Russia and Switzerland markets Conformity Marine certification LLC Assessment Body 121096, Russia, Moscow, Vasilisi Kozhinoy str. 1, office 17 (CAB) Tel./fax: +7 (495) 640-84-92 Email: [email protected]
Team leader: Andrew Hough Email: [email protected]
Contact person: Julia Nebolsina Tel./fax: +7 (495) 640-84-92 Email: [email protected]
Stakeholders Stakeholders for both Estonian and Russian parts of the fishery: • Fishing companies operating on Lake Peipus • Fish processing / buying companies with interests in Lake Peipus • Fishing Associations with members working in Lake Peipus • The ERFC • Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation • Logi-F (holder of the MSC Certificate of the Lake Peipus Perch and Pike- Perch fishery). • Gdovsky Fishing Plant CJSC, Revanch Fishing Company LLC, Bernard Wolf SA, GRIKO JV LLC (co-clients for the MSC assessment of the Russian Lake Peipus Perch and Pike-Perch fishery).
Estonia specific: • Estonian Ministry for the Environment (including fisheries enforcement officials) • Estonian Ministry of Rural Affairs. • Peipsi Fisheries Local Action Group • Dr. Vaino Vaino –University of Tartu (stock assessment and management) • Fisheries Council • Estonian environmental non-governmental organisations (eNGOs) with interests in Lake Peipus
Russia specific: • Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) • State Research Institute of Lake and River Fisheries (GosNIORH ) • Dr. Marina Melnik – GosNIORH (stock assessment and management) • Pskov Department of Fishery and Fish Supervision • Russian eNGOs within interests in Lake Peipus (including WWF).
Chain of Custody/ Risk Factor Description of risk if applicable Traceability Review The possibility of non-certified gear used If gillnets, trapnets and mutniks are all within the fishery certified then it appears this risk would be very low. It is understood that no other commercial fishing gear with high efficiency is used on Lake Peipus, and that eligible gears are recorded on vessel licences. Non-compliance with gear regulations would presumably be subject to enforcement action. The possibility of vessels from the UoC The fishery occurs on Lake Peipus, so fishing outside the UoC or in different activity is constrained naturally to the geographical areas (on the same trip or lake, only. It appears this risk would be on different trips) very low. The possibility of vessels from outside If the Estonian and Russian fisheries are the UoC or client group fishing the same certified, there would be no possibility for stock vessels outside the UoA to fish the same stock. The client group does not represent all fishers, however, so there would be vessels fishing outside of the client group. If successful, the way it is proposed to assess the fishery would result in all Lake Peipus perch and pike- perch caught with gillnets, trapnets and mutniks being eligible to carry the MSC logo, but only those products sold through the client group would be able to actually carry the MSC logo (noting that his would also apply to any companies who join the client group through a certificate- sharing scheme, and noting also that there is one fishery already MSC certified on Lake Peipus (the LPPF), with another in MSC assessment (the RLPPPF)). Any other risks of substitution between It is understood there are very few perch fish from the UoC and fish from outside or pike-perch taken in Lake Peipus in this unit commercial gears other than gillnets, trapnets and mutniks; therefore, if these fisheries in Russia and Estonia were certified then the risk of non-certified catch occurring in Lake Peipus would be very low. Fish caught from other locations may be stored at points of landing or processing, though, so appropriate separation and tracing processes would need to be demonstrated. All fish caught in Lake Peipus are landed daily, and that no processing occurs while the vessels are on the Lake. There is therefore no risk of mixing during processing activities prior to landing the catch. It is expected that the CoC would be required from the point of first landing, which would remove the risk to traceability of mixing during processing activities before subsequent CoC. Transhipment is not allowed. All Estonian vessels and Russian mutnik vessels are monitored with VMS, which helps to mitigate risk of illegal transhipment. Any other risks of substitution are not currently identified.
Any other This field is optional information the CAB wishes to provide (including any specific issues within the fishery that need to be highlighted).