MACALISTER ELLIOTT AND PARTNERS LTD

SURVEILLANCE VISIT REPORT FOR THE SARDINE FISHERY

CERTIFICATE CODE: MEP-F-015 SURVEILLANCE YEAR 4

Undertaken by:

Jo Gascoigne (Team Leader) Charlotte Tindall

NOVEMBER 2014

MEP QA REF: 2438R04A

MacAlister Elliott and Partners Ltd 56 High Street, Lymington Hampshire SO41 9AH

Tel: 01590 679016 Fax: 01590 671573 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.macalister-elliott.com Year 4 Annual Surveillance Visit – Report for the Cornwall sardine fishery

CONTENTS

CONTENTS ...... 2 1. GENERAL INFORMATION ...... 3 2. INTRODUCTION ...... 4 3. GENERAL NOTES ...... 6 3.1. CSMA Membership ...... 6 3.2. Change in PGI status ...... 7 3.3. Logsheets ...... 7 3.4. South West Handline Association letter to MMO concerning the ring net fishery ..... 8 4. PRINCIPLE 1 ...... 8 4.1. Stock definition ...... 8 4.2. Total catches ...... 11 4.3. ICES management advice ...... 11 4.4. CEFAS research ...... 12 5. PRINCIPLE 2 ...... 13 5.1. Retained bycatch species ...... 13 5.2. Discards ...... 14 5.3. Rescoring of Component 2.2 (discarded bycatch) ...... 15 6. PRINCIPLE 3 ...... 20 7. CONDITIONS AND ACTION PLAN ...... 20 8. RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 27 9. HARMONISATION ...... 28 10. TRACKING AND TRACING OF FISH PRODUCTS ...... 28 11. CONCLUSION AND CERTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION ...... 29 12. REFERENCES ...... 30

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1. GENERAL INFORMATION

Fishery Name Cornwall sardine

Unit of Certification Fishery for sardine with ring net and drift net in ICES Divisions VIIe and VIIf, within 6 miles of the Cornish coast, operated by members of the Cornish Sardine Management Association (CSMA).

Species Sardine (Sardina pilchardus)

Area ICES Divisions VIIe and VIIf (western Channel), within 6 miles of the coast of Cornwall.

Method of capture Ring nets and drift nets. NB: currently no drift nets operating within the UoC

Client Address Cornish Sardine Management Association 50 The Strand, , , Cornwall, TR18 5HW Client Contact Name Andy Matchett, Secretary CSMA

Client Telephone No.: +44 (0) 7769 144330

Client Email [email protected]

Certificate number MEP-F-015 (Previously MRAG-F-0001)

Certificate Issue Date 18 June 2010

Certificate Expiry Date 17 June 2015

Audit stage Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Audit experts Expert 1 (Team Leader): Dr Jo Gascoigne Expert 2: Charlotte Tindall Surveillance Audit Date 10 November 2014

Conclusion MEP concludes that all conditions have been met and that the fishery should remain certified for another year.

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2. INTRODUCTION

This report outlines the process and outcome of the fourth annual surveillance audit for the MSC certified fishery ‘Cornwall sardine’. The fishery is conducted by members of the Cornish Sardine Management Association (CSMA). Although the certification was originally foreseen to cover both ring-netters and drift-netters, there are no drift-netters who are currently members of CSMA.

The main season for the fishery for ring-netters is August to January/February. Fishing takes place during the night, and the ring-net is deployed to encircle schools of sardines which are located by echo-sounder. The skippers of ring-netting vessels are skilled at distinguishing the species by the echo-sounder shape and pattern, and are able to identify dense shoals of sardines. The ring-net has a small mesh to avoid, as far as possible, the sardines becoming trapped in the mesh which would reduce quality. The size of the net depends on the size of the vessel, but is approximately 250m long by 30m deep. All vessels are under-16m and normally carry a crew of 3-4 including the skipper. The fishery operates entirely within the six-mile limit, and is therefore subject to management by byelaws made by the Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (CIFCA). Under these rules, ring-netters are limited to 18.23m in overall length (Purse Seine and Ring Nets byelaw – enacted 7th April, 1997.)

This audit is the fourth annual surveillance audit for this fishery since certification, achieved in June 2010. The audit was carried out remotely on the 10th November 2014 by Jo Gascoigne and Charlotte Tindall. A variation request was approved by the MSC for this audit to be conducted remotely. For the request and the MSC’s response, see this link: http://www.msc.org/track-a- fishery/fisheries-in-the-program/certified/north-east-atlantic/cornwall-sardine/assessment- downloads/20141027_Var_Res_SAR031.pdf.

Stakeholders were informed of the scheduled site visit, its time and location and the proposed audit team on the 30th October 2014. No comments or requests for interviews were received. Simon Cadman (CIFCA) was contacted by email on 10th November. Rob Preston (Mevagissey Drift netters association) was contacted by phone on 11th November, and Carol Billson (MMO) was also contacted by phone on 18th November. Beatrice Roel (CEFAS) was contacted by email on 18th November and by phone on 1st December.

The fishery was certified subject to six conditions summarised in Table 1. A detailed discussion of the client’s progress against these conditions is provided in Section 7.

Table 1. Summary of conditions for the SFSAG saithe fishery, and their status after the Year 1 surveillance audit. Condition Status

1 PI 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 The harvest strategy and harvest control rules are not fully responsive to the stock status. The main fishery on this stock is the South Brittany sardine

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fishery (MSC certificate number F-BV-552727-FR). The South Brittany Closed certification was conditional on developing a responsive harvest strategy at year 3 and control rule. Since the Cornish fishery takes a negligible proportion of audit the catch, it cannot participate directly in this activity, but the condition was to promote and support the development of the management system for the overall stock. 2 PI 2.1.3 The catch of non-target retained species is considered very likely to be Closed minimal (i.e. less than the 5% threshold to be considered as ‘main’ retained at year 1 species). However, quantitative information could not be provided to audit demonstrate this conclusively. 3 PI 2.2.3 Discarded bycatch comes mainly via ‘slippage’ of the ring net catch. Closed Documentary / quantitative evidence is lacking on frequency of slippage, at year 3 species involved and discard survival. audit 4 PI 3.2.1 The management system does not include explicit objectives. Closed at year 1 audit 5 PI 3.2.2 The decision-making process needs to be explicitly precautionary, and to Closed incorporate the HCR (once developed under PI 1.2.2 above). at year 3 audit 6 PI 3.2.4 Research on the stock is underway (e.g. surveys were under development Closed by CEFAS during assessment) but a research plan had not been fully at year 3 developed. audit

In addition, a number of recommendations were made at the year 3 audit, as listed in Table 2. A detailed discussion of the client’s progress against these recommendations is provided in Section 8 .

Table 2. Recommendations made during the year 3 audit

Recommendations

1. General recommendation to monitor sardine catches by non-CSMA members and to encourage non-members to join the association 2. General recommendation to encourage members to fill out logbooks carefully 3. Review fishery’s reaction to any new research or stock assessment information 4. Recommendation that CSMA put in a system to ensure that the CSMA member vessel list only includes those vessels that adhere to the Terms and Conditions of the CSMA; and non- compliant vessels are removed from the list after a pre-determined period of grace. An updated members list is also made available to those companies purchasing sardines as MSC certified

The main purpose of the annual surveillance audit process is to review progress in meeting the condition as set out in the Client Action Plan (a part of the certification process, see the Public 2438R04A | MacAlister Elliott and Partners Ltd. 5 Year 4 Annual Surveillance Visit – Report for the Cornwall sardine fishery

Certification Report for this fishery). The audit team also reviewed the fishery to see if there had been any significant changes since certification.

The fishery remains in conformance with the Scope Criteria relating to unilateral exemption and destructive fishing practices (Certification Requirements v1.3, Section 27.4.4).

3. GENERAL NOTES

3.1. CSMA MEMBERSHIP

Membership of the CSMA has evolved significantly from its inception. Initially the association consisted of 6 ring-netters and 10 drift-netters, although two of these would sometimes use ring- nets. The number of ring-netters forming the association has since fluctuated between 5-7 ring- net vessels, but this year (2013/14 season) reached 9 vessels thereby capturing the majority of the ring-netting effort in the South West (see Table 3).

All of the drift-netters have left the association as they only periodically target sardines and do not find it advantageous to sell them as MSC Cornish Sardines. The Mevagissey Drift-netters Association reports that 3-4 small drift net boats targeted sardines over the 2013/14 season (mainly during May-April) using anchored nets, and drip-fed sardines onto the Plymouth market (Rob Preston, pers. comm. 11 Nov 2014).

Table 3. Ring-netters operating within the Cornish Sardine Fishery 2013/14 season

Vessel Home Port Skipper Ownership

White Heather Newlyn Stefan Glinski

Lyonesse Newlyn Sam Lamborne

Galwad-y-Mor Mevagissey Peter Blamey

Resolute Newlyn Peter Buckland Oceanfish (Contact – Andy Matchett)

Asthore Newlyn Peter Bullock

Richard Anne Mevagissey A Trevarthen

J Blackmore

Celtic Dawn Mevagissey John Hunkin

Lauren Kate Mevagissey Mike Brockenshire

(replaced Challenge)

Pride of Cornwall Newlyn Danny Downing

In addition to the vessels there are also non-fishing members (Table 4). The organisations represented have not changed but some individual contacts (e.g. MMO, Oceanfish) have.

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Table 4. Non-fishing CSMA Members 2013/14

Category Organisation Contact Processors Falfish Mark Greet Ocean Fish Andy Matchett Trelawney Fish, Newlyn Godfrey Adams Honorary Independent (Statistical Analysis) Peter Ghey Members CIFCA Simon Cadman MMO Carol Billson

3.2. CHANGE IN PGI STATUS

Interfish in Plymouth are joining the association for the 2014/15 season, and there has been an application to change the Protected Geographical Interest (PGI )status to allow ‘Cornish Sardines’ to be landed in Plymouth. (The PGI is an EU scheme to promote and protect names of quality agricultural products or foodstuffs. Only products genuinely originating in that region are allowed to be identified as such in commerce.) The requested change was reported in the AGM Meeting Minutes (Annex 1) and a note from Seafish reporting the consultation on the requested change can be found in Annex 6. (Note the current PGI status before any change can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protected-food-name-cornish- sardines-pgi)

This gives more flexibility to the vessels that may often travel near Plymouth to fish and find it easier to land here rather than travel back to Newlyn. It will also mean that a greater proportion of the south-west catch of sardines will be captured under the organisation (assuming that all vessels become members). Interfish have made it clear that they will encourage all the vessels selling sardines to them to become CSMA members.

The application to change the PGI status has yet to be finalised. As such no further action was taken by the team. However, the client is advised that any changes in PGI status should be reported to MEP so that the implications on the fishery’s traceability can be assessed.

3.3. LOGSHEETS

Electronic logsheets were introduced last year, although skippers were able to continue using the paper versions if they preferred. This year, all boats have been asked to use electronic logsheets, and CSMA produced new guidelines to assist with their use (see Annex 2).

In the main, this has been achieved, although some skippers found the move to electronic logsheets more difficult and as a result did not provide full logsheets (e.g. only providing total catches and not giving information per fishing trip or not giving details on retained species or discards). Despite this, completion of logsheets has improved this year and those vessels with poorer reporting are those landing low quantities of sardines. 2438R04A | MacAlister Elliott and Partners Ltd. 7 Year 4 Annual Surveillance Visit – Report for the Cornwall sardine fishery

The reasons for slippage or discards are still not included within the logsheets.

3.4. SOUTH WEST HANDLINE ASSOCIATION LETTER TO MMO CONCERNING THE RING NET FISHERY

The SW Handline Association sent a letter to MMO in August 2013 expressing concern that the ring net fishery appears to chase mackerel out of the bays and they do not appear to return until 2-3 days after a ring-netter has passed through. MMO responded to this letter explaining that there was no current evidence to suggest that there was a problem but that it would be kept under review. (See Annex 3 for a copy of the correspondence).

4. PRINCIPLE 1

4.1. STOCK DEFINITION

ICES WGHANSA (Working Group on Southern Horse Mackerel, Anchovy and Sardine) met during 20-25 June 2014 in order to assess the status and provide short-term predictions for these species.

WGHANSA 2014 reports that sardines in the English Channel and Celtic Sea (Area VII) and in the Bay of Biscay (VIIIa, b, d) are considered to be the same stock from a genetic point of view. However, from a modelling point of view there is a lack of sampling in area VII, compared to richness in datasets available for the Bay of Biscay. The two sub-stocks are therefore dealt with separately when undertaking (or attempting to undertake) stock assessments.

Bay of Biscay sardine stock status In the Bay of Biscay there is an annual Pelgas survey which looks at sardine abundance and egg counts. There is also a Bioman (DEPM) egg count survey undertaken in the same area.

The results of the two egg surveys are presented below. The two surveys illustrate similar trends, with some differences. The last big peak in egg counts was during 2009/2010 followed by a reduction in 2011/12 and increases in more recent years (Figure 1).

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Figure 1. Survey indices from Pelgas (acoustic) and Bioman (DEPM) surveys in VIIIa,b,d. (Source: WGHANSA, 2014)

The Pelgas survey estimated current sardine abundance (for 2014) as 339,607 tonnes, which illustrates a small decrease from last year but is at an average level compared to historical data (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Results of the Pelgas sardine abundance estimation for the Bay of Biscay (Source: WGHANSA, 2014)

Last year’s Pelgas survey (2013) had reported good recruitment, and this was carried through this year with a relatively high abundance of age 2 adult sardines (Figure 3).

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Figure 3. Sardine age distribution along the PELGAS survey

English Channel and Celtic Sea (Area VII) WGHANSA 2014 points out that there is no reported sampling programme in Area VII, which makes any attempt to analytically assess the stock impossible. It recommends that ‘a proper sampling programme should be implemented to monitor the sardine fishery in subarea VII’. It also advises that several years of data collection will need to take place before a time-series is long enough to be used in assessments. Cefas have in fact been doing some sampling of the area for sardines through the Poseidon Programme (see Section 4.4 below). However the results of this programme have not yet been published and have therefore not yet been fed into the ICES working groups.

4.2. UOC CATCHES

Total sardine catches for the 2013/14 season (from June 2013 to the end of May 2014) by CSMA members were 2,828t. The evolution of catches is provided in Table 5, and a comparison between CSMA member catches and MMO data on total south-west sardine catches is given in Figure 4.

Table 5. Summary of total sardine catches (tonnes) of CSMA members since MSC certification

Year 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Number of member ring-net vessels 4 5 5 9

CSMA-Member catches* (tonnes) 1,399 2,213 2,121 2,828

Total South West catches (MMO data) 2187 3820 3797 3,096

Proportion of CSMA catches compared to total SW 64% 58% 56% 91% sardine catch**

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* All paid-up members have been included in this table even if log-sheets were not compliant **Previously CSMA catches have been compared with Cornwall catches, but it is now considered more appropriate to compare them to all South-West catches (i.e. both Cornwall and Devon)

Figure 4. CSMA sardine catches compared to total South-West catches (MMO data)

4.3. TOTAL CATCHES

Total catches for ICES sub-areas VIIIa,b,d (Bay of Biscay) and VII (English Channel/Celtic Sea) were 45,502t in 2013. This was made up of 29,331t from VIII, and 16,171t from VII.

The South Brittany fishery is one of the most important sardine fisheries in Area VIIIa,b,d, with annual catches averaging 15,000-22,000t per year. The rest of the catch is taken by Spanish vessels.

Catches in area VII are accounted for mainly by France, UK, Netherlands and Ireland and totalled 16,171t in 2013. UK catches were reported as 3,722t in 2013. They were as high as 10,375t in 2001 but have remained around 2-4,000t since 2004 (ICES, 2014b).

4.4. ICES MANAGEMENT ADVICE

ICES produced advice for sardine catches in the Bay of Biscay (VIIIa, b, d) and Celtic Sea/English Channel (VII) for 2014 which is still valid for 2015. The advice suggests that there should be a 20% reduction in catches compared to the last three years, bringing total sardine catches down from 45,500t (in 2013) to less than 25,554t. This advice is to avoid catches that could lead to a reduction in the production of offspring.

ICES produced this advice in July 2013, for 2014 and 2015, based on a comparison on biomass indices for the past two years (2011-2012) compared to the three years preceding this (2008- 2010). (This is the harvest control rule that ICES uses for data-deficient stocks). This analysis

2438R04A | MacAlister Elliott and Partners Ltd. 11 Year 4 Annual Surveillance Visit – Report for the Cornwall sardine fishery suggests that the biomass of the last two years was 20% less than the preceding three years, and that catches therefore need to be reduced by 20%.

According to data from the Pelgas survey, since 2000 the stock has fluctuated and the years 2008-2001 were peak years, which goes some way to explain why the harvest control rule suggests a reduction in catches, as these peak years are used as the benchmark biomass. However the same ICES advice also concludes that it is likely that fishing effort is close to the maximum sustainable yield and that recruitment in 2012 was the highest in the series.

4.5. CEFAS RESEARCH

This year CEFAS attended the CSMA AGM and gave an update on information available on the local sardine stock. See Annex 4a for a copy of the presentation given by Beatriz Roel.

In the last audit (surveillance audit 3) the team reported that CEFAS had published the results of its two-year research programme into sardine and anchovy populations in the western Channel and Celtic Sea in 2012 (Roel and van der Kooij, 2012). The main conclusions of the study included:

 Confirmation that sardines are spawning around the Cornish peninsula, including to the northwest of Cornwall in an area where spawning has not previously been recorded;

 No significant genetic differentiation was detected between the Bay of Biscay and Cornwall sardines

Since this report, CEFAS have been collecting some sardine-related information through the Poseidon Programme which is a 5 year survey of the pelagic system in the Celtic Sea. This programme focuses on small pelagic fish and their ecosystem around the Cornish Peninsula (UK parts of VIIe and f), and therefore includes sardines. The programme is now in its 3rd year and has collected data on: egg and larvae distribution; acoustic data and length/frequency data. Although the results have not yet been published some of the initial results include:

 The Poseidon surveys are finding good numbers of sardine eggs and larvae in British waters with eggs most abundant in 2014;

 2014 saw particularly high numbers of juvenile sardine which suggests that part of the study area are used as nursery areas (possibly also for the Bay of Biscay specimens)

 There have been larger numbers of spawning adults in 2014 which could be explained by warmer sea conditions.

 There is currently no evidence of declining numbers and recruitment appears to be up (see Annex 4b).

 Acoustic estimates for sardine biomass for 2012-2014 are currently being worked on and should be available in February 2015

Jeroen Van Der Kooij (Pers. Comm. , Cefas, 8th December 2014 )

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CSMA and CEFAS have also been working to develop a new Fisheries Science Partnership research plan in order to look at sardine biomass estimates more specifically within Cornish waters. The plan is to submit a proposal by the end of the year and begin a survey in September/October 2015. Although genetic tests indicated that the Cornish sardine stock is part of the Bay of Biscay stock, there are some grounds to suggest that there could be a sub-stock in Cornish waters. Some indications of this are the distribution of sardines and the presence of young sardines in our waters. There is currently no genetic proof of this, but there is the possibility in the future of doing more sensitive genetic tests.

CEFAS are members of WGHANSA and the working group on pelagic surveys, and the results of the Poseidon Programme and the various FSP surveys will be fed back into ICES. Their aim is to advance the scientific information on the sardine stock in the event it becomes more regulated (e.g. a quota species).

5. PRINCIPLE 2

5.1. RETAINED BYCATCH SPECIES

Retained species for 2013/14 were analysed by CSMA based on logbook data (Table 6), and compared with previous years in Table 7. None of the retained bycatch species exceeded 5% this year. Retained species during the 2013/14 season mainly consisted of herring with smaller amounts of mackerel.

Table 6. 2013/14 Total Catches (kg) by ring-netter fleet in Cornwall (based on data available)

Sardines Anchovy Sprats Herring Mackerel Bass Scad

CSMA catches (kg) 2,828,060 5 625 80,839 18,815 221 8,877

% of Total Catch 93.3% <0.01% 0.02% 2.75% 0.64% 0.01% 0.3%

Table 7. Proportions of different species (as % total catch) caught by CSMA members over the past 4 years

Year 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Sardines 87.0% 95.3% 95.4% 93.3%

Anchovy 5.5% 2.2% 0.3% <0.01%

Sprats 2.7% 0.09% 0.7% 0.02%

Herring 4.2% 1.8% 3.1% 2.8%

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Mackerel 0.09% 0.5% 0.4% 0.6%

Bass 0.01% 0.05% <0.03% 0.01%

Scad 0.5% 0.1% - 0.3%

Other 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% -

5.2. DISCARDS

Discards were relatively high in the 2013/14 season (see Table 8 and Table 9), but mainly consisted of species for which the vessels did not have quota (herring or scad) or were small fish (e.g. mackerel). These data are based on logbook data and are reported within CSMA’s Annual Statistics 2013/14. Horse mackerel discards made up more than 5% of the total catch and are therefore considered ‘main’ discarded species. This warranted a rescoring of the discard component 2.2. for the species as discussed in Section 5.3.

Table 8. Discard amounts and proportions for 2013/14

Species discarded Quantity (t) Proportion of total catch Mackerel 65 2.3% Herring 81 2.9% Scad/Horse Mackerel 161 5.7%

Discard rates vary considerably from year to year depending on what other species are present and the size of sardines found. Discard survival is considered to be high in all cases when the net is slipped.

Table 9. Details of discards for the past 4 years

Year 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14

Discard levels 2.92% Low (~0.1% No discards or slippage 10% of total catch Comments 46.9 tonnes (mostly 2 tonnes sprat Mainly large fish Mainly scad, small sardines or present & low levels of herring and sprats) sprat & scad mackerel

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5.3. RESCORING OF COMPONENT 2.2 (DISCARDED BYCATCH)

PI Category PI SG60 SG80 SG100

2.2.1 The fishery does not pose a Main bycatch species are Main bycatch species are There is a high degree of risk of serious or likely to be within highly likely to be within certainty that bycatch Outcome status irreversible harm to the biological based limits, or if biological based limits, or if species are within biological bycatch species groups and outside such limits there are outside such limits there is a based limits. does not hinder recovery of mitigation measures in partial strategy of depleted bycatch species or place that are expected to demonstrable effective e species groups. ensure that the fishery does mitigation measures in not hinder recovery and place that are expected to rebuilding. ensure that the fishery does not hinder recovery and If the status is poorly known rebuilding. there are measures or practices in place that are expected to result in the fishery not causing the bycatch species to reach biologically based limits or hinder recovery.

Scoring Rationale Evidence Score (weight)

 WGWIDE 2014 assesses the state of the Western Horse Mackerel stock which ICES 2014 c (See Score: 80 includes area VII (where CSMA operates); References at the end of this report)  SSB for this stock (Western stock) declined steadily between 1988 and 2000 and is estimated to be at 772 334 tonnes in 2013. SSB is expected to decline below

MSY Btrigger in 2014. Fishing mortality has been increasing since 2007 and has

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been above FMSY since 2012. Recruitment has been low from 2004 onwards (ICES, 2014d, ICES Advice on Western Horse Mackerel).

 ICES advices that in order to achieve MSY, catches should have been 110,546t in 2013. Total catches were 160,686t and the EU TAC for 2014 was set at 135,420t.

 Sub-area catches of western horse mackerel in VII in 2013 were 83,683t (52% of the overall catch). UK catches in 2013 were 4,401t (3% of the overall catch). CSMA members estimate that they slipped 161t of horse mackerel from their nets with a high likelihood of survival (Equivalent to 0.1% of the total catch in area VII and 3.7% of UK catches in 2013).

 Even though the state of the western horse mackerel stocks is not considered to be at a level to achieve MSY, it is highly unlikely that the quantities CSMA members slip from their nets has any significant negative impact on the state of the stock.

2.2.2 There is a strategy in place There are measures in There is a partial strategy in There is a strategy in place for managing bycatch that is place, if necessary, which place, if necessary, for for managing and Management Strategy designed to ensure the are expected to maintain managing bycatch that is minimising bycatch. fishery does not pose a risk main bycatch species at expected to maintain main of serious or irreversible levels which are highly bycatch species at levels The strategy is mainly based harm to bycatch likely to be within which are highly likely to be on information directly populations. biologically limits or to within biologically limits or about the fishery and/or ensure that the fishery does to ensure that the fishery species involved, and not hinder their recovery. does not hinder their testing supports high recovery. confidence that the strategy The measures are will work. considered likely to work There is some objective based on plausible argument basis for confidence that the There is clear evidence that (e.g. general experience, partial strategy is being the strategy is being theory or comparison with implemented successfully. implemented successfully, similar fisheries/species). and indented changes are occurring. There is some

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evidence that the strategy is achieving its objective.

Scoring Rationale Evidence Score (weight)

 There are no horse mackerel management agreements between EU and non EU Public Certification Report Score: 80 countries (ICES 2014, WGWIDE). In 2007, a management plan was proposed by (MRAG 2010) the Pelagic RAC but is not used at present to set the EU TAC. The management plan was most recently evaluated by ICES in 2013 and it was concluded not to be Surveillance Audit Reports in accordance with the precautionary approach. A revised management plan is Personal Observations on currently under development (ICES, 2014d, ICES Advice on Western Horse Vessel (2011) Mackerel). The minimum landing size of horse mackerel by the EU fleet is 15cm (10% undersized allowed in the catches) (ICES, 2014c WGWIDE). The operational strategy of this fishery ensures that bycatch is limited – it is highly targeted for sardines and uses echo-sounders to assist with the targeting and it is spatially limited (within 6nm of the coast). On this basis, the auditors considered that a partial strategy is in place.

 Main bycatch in this fishery occurs very infrequently. It has only happened once over the past 4 years, for the 2013/14 season horse mackerel bycatch accounted for 5.7% of the total catch. This is the only year there has been a main bycatch species and generally total discards are under 5% of the total catch. The species caught vary each year depending on fluctuation of other stocks and available quota (i.e. skippers have to slip species that they do not have quota for e.g. herring, horse mackerel). This provides some objective basis for confidence that the partial strategy is being implemented successfully.

2.2.3 Information on the nature Qualitative information is Qualitative information and Accurate and verifiable and amount of bycatch is available on the amount of some quantitative information is available on Information/monitoring adequate to determine the main bycatch species information are available on the amount of all bycatch risk posed by the fishery and affected by the fishery. the amount of main bycatch and the consequences for the effectiveness of the species affected by the the status of affected strategy to manage bycatch. Information is adequate to fishery. populations. broadly understand

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outcome status with respect Information is sufficient to Information is sufficient to to biologically based limits. estimate outcome status quantitatively estimate with respsect to biologically outcome status with respect Information is adequate to based limits. to biologically based limits support measures to manage with a high degree of bycatch. Information is adequate to certainty. support a partial strategy to manage main bycatch Information is adequate to species. support a comprehensive strategy to manage bycatch Sufficient data continue to and evaluate with a high be collected to detect any degree of certainty whether increase in risk to main a strategy is achieving its bycatch species (e.g. due to objectives. changes in the outcome indicator scores or the Monitoring of bycatch data operation of the fishery or is conducted in sufficient the effectiveness of the detail to assess ongoing strategy). mortalities to all bycatch species.

Scoring Rationale Evidence Score (weight)

 Bycatch data is routinely recorded within CSMA member logsheets CSMA Logsheets Score: 80

 Logsheets are now being completed fully by most of the CSMA members CSMA Summary Statistics 2010/11 to 2013/14  There are now 4 years of data on discards from CSMA logsheets.

 Discard data suggests that in discards are generally low (under 5%), although 2013/14 represented an unusual year with discards reaching 10% of the catch owing to high numbers of horse mackerel and young mackerel occurring in the water column.

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 The only main species has been horse mackerel for the year 2013/14 only (5.7% of the total catch). ICES WGWIDE assesses and reports on the state of this stock, so that its status is known and any increase in risk status can be detected.

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6. PRINCIPLE 3

Stefan Glinski has stepped down as chair of CSMA, and Paul Trebilcock (also chair of the Cornish Fisheries Producers Organisation) has been appointed as a new chair.

The EU Landings Obligation (or discard ban) is due to be implemented within the UK from January 2015 for small pelagic fisheries. A meeting on this future regulation was held between MMO, Defra and CFPO in January 2014 to which CSMA attended. Following this meeting, the ring-net fleet received a derogation meaning that it does not need to comply with the discard ban (See Annex 8).

There were no compliance issues raised by either CIFCA (Simon Cadman, Personal Communications, 10th November 2014) or MMO (Carol Billson, Personal Communications, 18th November 2014)

7. CONDITIONS AND ACTION PLAN

The most important aspect of the annual audit is to assess progress with the Action Plan towards meeting the conditions. This fishery was certified with six conditions, covering i) harvest strategy and control rules; ii) retained species information; iii) bycatch information; iv) fishery- specific objectives; v) decision-making processes and vi) research plan.

Below each condition is reviewed, considering the progress the fishery has made relative to Year 4 of the Client Action Plan. As of the third surveillance audit, all conditions have been met (see below) but many have been reviewed to ensure they are still being implemented.

PI PI 1.2.1 Harvest strategy, and PI 1.2.2 Harvest control rules and tools

Condition The harvest strategy and harvest control rules are not fully responsive to the stock status. The main fishery on this stock is the South Brittany sardine fishery (MSC certificate number F-BV-552727-FR). The South Brittany certification was conditional on developing a responsive harvest strategy and control rule. Since the Cornish fishery takes a negligible proportion of the catch, it cannot participate directly in this activity, but the condition was to promote and support the development of the management system for the overall stock. Action Plan First annual audit: Discuss options for harvest control rules with Cefas and Defra and/or the relevant Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (and in light of whatever can be learnt about the Brittany pilchard fishery’s approach to control rules) and arrange for the outcome to be discussed with stakeholders with a view to producing a written agreement by the time of the second annual audit.

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Second annual audit: Provide documented evidence that harvest control rules have been outlined and discussed with stakeholders [and that an agreed policy document is developed that includes a description of the use of the rule in the decision-making process].

Fourth annual audit: Demonstrate that the relevant Ministries have formally accepted the harvest control rules for the fishery [and that these are implemented in decision-making processes.] Conclusion of Since the condition for the South Brittany fishery is now met, the Year 3 Audit audit team concluded that this matching condition for the Cornish fishery is also closed. The CSMA voluntary harvest control rules (limits on licences, minimum size etc.) remain in place. The general recommendation to continue to monitor sardine catches by non-CSMA members, and to encourage non-members to join (including fulfilling all the requirements of membership) remain in place. CSMA Actions in CSMA now covers a greater number of ring-netters operating in the Year 4 South West. Membership in the 2013/14 season covered 9 vessels, and membership for 2014/15 is proposed to be 12 vessels. Interfish (based in Plymouth) are joining the association this year (2014/15) and therefore the majority of the sardine catch in the South West will be managed by the association (with the exception of a small number of drift-net/static-net vessels). CEFAS gave a presentation at the CSMA AGM held on 30th May, giving the association an update on the results of ongoing research as well as an estimate on the approximate tonnage of the south west stocks. CSMA have produced new guidelines to assist skippers in completing the electronic log-sheets. CSMA held a meeting with the MMO (Carol Billson) and the CIFCA (Simon Cadman) in April 2014 to explore options on formalising CSMA’s voluntary harvest control rules. At present CIFCA and the MMO do not consider that there is a need to change management practices unless there is evidence that the stock is under pressure (Carol Billson, 18th November, pers. comm.). Harvest control rules The South Brittany Sardine Fishery has now defined harvest control rules. A review of the harvesting strategy has also been implemented. The 2013 Pelgas survey was presented to the association in December 2013. As the abundance is around the historic average the decision was taken to maintain the previous year’s strategy. In their 4th annual audit (June 2014) the assessment team also concluded, having

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reviewed the evidence, that it was highly likely that the sardine stock is above the point at which recruitment would be impaired. Evidence Provided  South Brittany Sardine Fishery MSC 4th Audit Report (Bureau Veritas 2014)  CSMA catch and membership statistics 2013/14  AGM 2014 Meeting Minutes (Annex 1) Notes from meeting held in April 2014 between CSMA, CIFCA and MMO (as seen by auditors)

Conclusion of This condition was met in Year 3 and CSMA have shown that Year 4 Audit they have taken pro-active measures to encourage membership, review of any stock information and liaise with policy makers to support their voluntary harvesting strategy.

PI PI 2.1.3 Retained species information and monitoring

Condition The catch of non-target retained species is considered very likely to be minimal (i.e. less than the 5% threshold to be considered as ‘main’ retained species). However, quantitative information could not be provided to demonstrate this conclusively. Action Plan First annual audit: Use fishermen’s logbook data to document the annual quantity (in weight) of retained non-target species (by species) expressed as a proportion of the total annual catch of target species (sardine) and evaluate whether this is less than 5% of total catch weight. Conclusion of Sufficient information was provided to the audit team to make an Year 3 Audit assessment that the fishery most likely has no ‘main’ retained species, and that the fishery is highly unlikely to be having any significant impact on any retained species. The recommendation to encourage members to fill out logbooks carefully stands. CSMA Actions During 2013/14 CSMA membership covered 91% of sardine catches Year 4 in the South West. CSMA membership (from 2014 onwards) covers most of the vessels targeting sardines in the South West. A higher proportion of CSMA members, compared to previous years, have completed logsheets fully; providing catch and effort data, as well as data on retained and discarded catch. CSMA have now moved to electronic logsheets and most skippers have been able to make this change, although two skippers have found this move more difficult and as a result did not provide fully completed log sheets. Again this year, none of the retained bycatch species have exceeded (individually) 5% of the total catch.

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Evidence Provided  Detailed logsheets  Analysis of catches: Cornish Sardine Management Association Report and Statistics for June 2013-June 2014 Season  MMO sardine landing data CSMA Chairman’s report (Annex 5)

Conclusion of This condition was met in Year 1, and CSMA have shown Year 4 Audit improved completion of log sheets and a greater representation of vessels targeting sardines.

Recommendation: CSMA holds a short training session for skippers on how to fully fill out the electronic log-sheets.

PI PI 2.2.3 Bycatch information and monitoring

Condition Discarded bycatch comes mainly via ‘slippage’ of the ring net catch. Documentary / quantitative evidence is lacking on frequency of slippage, species involved and discard survival. Action Plan Second annual audit: Use fishermen’s logbooks to document the frequency of slippage occurring within the ring net fishery. Fourth annual audit: Provide documented evidence of the species and quantity of bycatch discarded in both the ring net and drift net fisheries. Conclusion of Sufficient information was provided to continue to fulfil this Year 3 Audit condition. CSMA Actions Since Year 1, CSMA logsheets have required vessels to report any Year 4 discards, including the species and quantity. CSMA logsheets have been completed more fully this year by a greater number of members. Discards were 10% of total catches for the 2013/14 season, which is relatively high compared to previous years. This was due to there being large shoals of herring and scad (horse mackerel), as well as the presence of small-sized mackerel. Evidence Provided  Detailed logsheets  Analysis of catches: Cornish Sardine Management Association Report and Statistics for June 2013-June 2014 Season CSMA Chairman’s Report 2014 AGM (Annex 5)

Conclusion of This condition was met in Year 1 and CSMA have continued to Year 4 Audit fulfil this condition by providing information on discards in log- sheets and improving the completion of log-sheets and representation of the association. However, the electronic log- sheets do not provide space to record the reason for slippage/discards.

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Recommendation: An additional column is added to the electronic log-sheets for skippers to describe the reason for any slippage or discards.

PI PI 3.2.1 Fishery-specific objectives

Condition The management system does not include explicit objectives.

Action Plan First annual audit Develop and document fishery-specific objectives for MSC Principle 1 and MSC Principle 2 that are agreed to by all major stakeholders and consistent with UK national policy. Conclusions of The audit team considered that the objectives given above and on the Year 1 audit website would be sufficient for SG80 to be met, so this condition is met. Year 2 audit No further actions required. Year 3 audit No further actions required. Year 4 audit No further actions required.

PI PI 3.2.2 Decision-making processes Condition The decision-making process needs to be explicitly precautionary, and to incorporate the HCR (once developed under PI 1.2.2 above). Action Plan Second annual audit Provide documented evidence that option for harvest rules have been outlined and discussed with stakeholders and that an agreed policy document is developed that includes a description of the use of the harvest control rule in the decision making process. Conclusion of Since the condition on harvest control rules for the South Brittany Year 3 Audit fishery is now met, then this condition is also met. Research and stock assessments, and the fishery’s response to these, will continue to be monitored. CSMA Actions Biscay stock, it is argued that CSMA are reliant on the Harvest Year 4 Control Rules of the South Brittany fishery which have now been formulated.

In addition to this CSMA has taken additional steps to ensure they are fully informed on any information on the stock and are contributing to an improved understanding of the stock. They have achieved this by inviting CEFAS to present an updated analysis of the state of the stock at the CSMA AGM.

CSMA have also held a meeting with CIFCA and MMO to review potential options to formalise a harvest strategy within regulations. Evidence Provided  CEFAS Research Report (Roel and van der Kooij 2012)  CSMA AGM Meeting Minutes (Annex 1) 2438R04A | MacAlister Elliott and Partners Ltd. 24 Year 4 Annual Surveillance Visit – Report for the Cornwall sardine fishery

 South Brittany MSC 4th Surveillance Report (Bureau Veritas 2014)  ICES (2014) Report of the Working Group on Southern Horse Mackerel, Anchovy and Sardine (WGHANSA) 20-25 June 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark, ICES CM 2014/ACOM 16. 599pp Conclusion of This condition was met in Year 3, following the definition of Year 4 Audit harvest control rules for the South Brittany fishery, and continues to be met with CSMA staying informed on any new research information and continuing dialogue with CIFCA and MMO on options to formalise their own voluntary harvest control rules.

Recommendation: CSMA also review any new information/results from the WGHANSA working group on the Bay of Biscay Stock; any changes in harvest strategy by the South Brittany fishery; and the latest ICES advice at their AGM.

Recommendation: CSMA continue dialogue with CIFCA and MMO to formalise harvest control rules if there is evidence that the stock is under pressure.

PI PI 3.2.4 Research plan Condition Research on the stock is underway (e.g. surveys were under development by CEFAS during assessment) but a research plan had not been fully developed. Action Plan First annual audit: Finalise a written research plan, based on the one presently being developed by Cefas and agreed to by all major stakeholders aimed at providing results that meet the fishery-specific objectives. Third annual audit: Put research plan into practice dependent on Cefras/Defra/EU priorities and funding. Fourth annual audit: Present the results of that part of research plan carried out to date and demonstrate that these are being used in the management of the fishery Conclusion of The CEFAS work programme for this stock can be considered to be a Year 3 Audit suitable research plan, particularly since it includes the only potential ‘main’ retained species (anchovy) as well as sardine. CSMA Actions CSMA have maintained relations with CEFAS and have consistently Year 4 sent them their annual statistics. This year Beatrice Roel from CEFAS attended the CSMA AGM and gave an update on current knowledge on the sardine stock, and provided a tentative biomass estimate (from an acoustic survey) of ~100,000 tonnes for the Celtic Sea and western Channel region, but note that this is a snapshot and subject to 2438R04A | MacAlister Elliott and Partners Ltd. 25 Year 4 Annual Surveillance Visit – Report for the Cornwall sardine fishery

significant uncertainties. CEFAS also suggest that 20% of this stock could be sustainably targeted, which would amount to around 20,000t. This compares with annual CSMA catches of 2-4,000t and ICES records of Area VII catches of 16,171t in 2013 (WGHANSA, 2014).

CEFAS have been surveying the sardine stock within the Celtic Sea as part of their Poseidon Programme. CSMA and CEFAS are also planning to collaborate on a new Fisheries Science Partnership programme to provide a biomass estimate for the Cornish Sardine Stock.

Further to this, ICES WGHANSA (Working Group on Southern Horse Mackerel, Anchovy and Sardine) met in June 2014 and included an assessment of the Sardines in the English Channel and Celtic Sea (Area VII); and the Bay of Biscay (Areas VIIIa, b & d). The report confirms that the sardines from these areas are considered to be the same stock from a genetic point of view, but are treated separately from an assessment point of view due to the lack of data in Area VII compared to a data rich situation for the Bay of Biscay.

The Bay of Biscay stock is considered to be sustainable and biomass trends show current biomass estimates (of 339,607t from the Pelgas survey) to be around the historical average. Other indications include good recruitment last year (2013) and a high Year 2 age-class this year.

In terms of management advice, ICES advice using data on the Bay of Biscay Stock was issued in 2013 for 2014 and is calculated by comparing biomass indices for the past two years (2011-12) to the three preceding years (2008-10). This suggests that ‘current’ biomass indices (2011/12) are 20% lower than previous years and therefore catches need to be reduced by 20%. The advice was not changed for 2015, even though the WGHANSA report concludes that the stock is likely to be at a sustainable level. Evidence Provided  ICES (2014) Report of the Working Group on Southern Horse Mackerel, Anchovy and Sardine (WGHANSA) 20-25 June 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark, ICES CM 2014/ACOM 16. 599pp  ICES advice for stock: Sardine in Divisions VIIIa,b,d and Subarea; and Ecoregion: Bay of Biscay and Atlantic Iberian waters VII. July 2014 Advice.  CSMA AGM Meeting Minutes (Annex 1) Conclusion of This condition was met in Year 3, and CSMA have continued to Year 4 Audit pro-actively contributed their annual statistics to CEFAS, review the latest stock assessment information through CEFAS and pro- actively follow up the option to collaborate with CEFAS on a potential new research programme.

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8. RECOMMENDATIONS

The following section provides a review of the recommendations made during the year 3 audit.

1. General recommendation to monitor sardine catches by non-CSMA members and to encourage non-members to join the association. CSMA now covers a greater number of ring-netters operating in the South West. Membership in the 2013/14 season covered 9 vessels, and membership for 2014/15 is proposed to be 12 vessels. Interfish (based in Plymouth) are joining the association this year (2014/15) and therefore the majority of the sardine catch in the South West will be managed by the association (with the exception of a small number of drift-net/static-net vessels).

2. General recommendation to encourage members to fill out logbooks carefully A higher proportion of CSMA members, compared to previous years, have completed log- sheets fully; providing catch and effort data, as well as data on retained and discarded catch. The move to electronic log sheets caused problems for a couple of skippers and it is recommended that CSMA holds a short training session on completing the electronic log-sheets for those that have queries.

3. Review fishery’s reaction to any new research or stock assessment information. CEFAS attended the CSMA AGM and gave an update on stock assessment information and options to collaborate on further research.

4. Recommendation that CSMA put in a system to ensure that the CSMA member vessel list only includes those vessels that adhere to the Terms and Conditions of the CSMA; and non-compliant vessels are removed from the list after a pre-determined period of grace. An updated members list is also made available to those companies purchasing sardines as MSC certified. Andy Matchett of Oceanfish (CSMA Secretary) explains that:

“The CSMA now runs an official list of vessels and processors that adhere to the rules of the CSMA – please find attached. This list is made available to all members and for the first time this membership list includes ALL vessels and processors. The activities of these members are being monitored by the CSMA to ensure that they are acting accordingly, if they do not then action will be taken on a case by case basis.” (Personal Communications, Andy Matchett, Oceanfish, 9th December 2014). See Annex 8 for the 2014 proposed CSMA members.

Following the year 4 surveillance audit, the team made the following recommendations:

 Recommendation: CSMA holds a short-training session for skippers on how to fully fill out the electronic log-sheets.

 Recommendation: An additional column is added to the electronic log-sheets for skippers to describe the reason for any slippage or discards.

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 Recommendation: CSMA also review any new information/results from the WGHANSA working group on the Bay of Biscay Stock; any changes in harvest strategy by the South Brittany fishery; and the latest ICES advice at their AGM.

 Recommendation: CSMA continue dialogue with CIFCA and MMO to formalise harvest control rules if there is evidence that the stock is under pressure.

9. HARMONISATION

The Cornish Sardine fishery is dependent on harvest control rules that have been developed for the South Brittany sardine fishery, because it is currently considered that the two fisheries operate on a shared stock, with the Cornish fishery taking a small proportion of the catch relative to the French fishery (for the full argument, see the Public Certification Report).

The South Brittany fishery developed its harvesting strategy in 2012, limiting boats to 27 and daily catches to 20 tonnes per boat. A meeting is now arranged ahead of each fishing season, where scientists present the latest information on the status of the stock and the daily quota is modified accordingly.

In December 2013, the results of the PELGAS campaign were presented to the association and it was stated that the abundance indices are in the historic average. As a result the harvest strategy was kept the same as in previous years. The number of licenses remains at 27 and the daily quota limit of 20 tonnes remains in force.

The WGHANSA 2014 report concludes that fishing mortality of the Bay of Biscay sardine stock is equivalent to natural mortality and that therefore the fishery is likely to be sustainable. The assessment team undertaking the 4th annual surveillance of the South Brittany sardine fishery, provided by Bureau Veritas, concluded that based on information available the fishery is likely to be sustainable.

10. TRACKING AND TRACING OF FISH PRODUCTS

The list of CSMA members for the 2013/14 season is given in Table 3. The following processors were reported (in last year’s audit report) to sell Cornish sardines with the MSC logo:

 Oceanfish  Falfish  Trelawney Fish (formerly Fresh and Freeze)  Interfish  Samways, Bridport As a greater proportion of ring-net vessels targeting sardines are now part of CSMA, and reporting more consistently there are fewer issues with chain of custody.

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11. CONCLUSION AND CERTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION

All conditions for this fishery were met at the year 3 surveillance audit and the CSMA has demonstrated a proactive approach to ensure they continue to be met. MEP concludes that CSMA is implementing the Action Plan as set out in the Certification Report, and that the fishery should remain certified for another year.

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12. REFERENCES

Bureau Veritas 2014. Fourth Annual surveillance audit for South Brittany sardine purse seine fishery. Available at http://www.msc.org/track-a-fishery/fisheries-in-the- program/certified/north-east-atlantic/south-brittany-sardine-purse-seine/assessment- downloads-1/20140925_SR_SAR109.pdf ICES advice 2014a. 7.4.20. Bay of Biscay and Atlantic Iberian waters: Sardines in Divisions VIIIabd and Subarea VII. Available at: http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Advice/2014/2014/sar-soth.pdf ICES, 2014b. Report of the Working Group on Southern Horse Mackerel, Anchovy and Sardine (WGHANSA) 20-25 June 2014, Copenhagen, Denmark, ICES CM 2014/ACOM 16. 599pp ICES. 2014c. Report of the Working Group on Widely Distributed Stocks (WGWIDE), 26 August - 1 September 2014, ICES Headquarters, Copenhagen, Denmark. ICES CM 2014/ACOM:15. 938 pp.

ICES 2014d. ICES Advice September 2014. ECOREGION Widely distributed and migratory stocks STOCK Horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus) in Divisions IIa, IVa, Vb, VIa, VIIa–c, e–k, and VIIIa–e (Western stock)

Roel B.A. and van der Kooij J. 2012. Assessment of pelagic fish resources in the Celtic Sea and western English Channel. Final Year Progress Report (October 2012).

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ANNEX 1: AGM MEETING MINUTES (30TH MAY 2014)

Cornish Sardine Management Association Annual General Meeting

Friday 30th May, 10am at Seafood Cornwall Training, Newlyn

Present:

Stefan Glinski [SG] Fresh & Freeze Co (Chairman) Billy Dickson [BD] Falfish Peter Blamey [PBy] CSMA Chris Blamey [CB] CSMA Peter Ghey [PG] CSMA Andy Matchett [AM] Ocean Fish Laura Musgrove [LM] Interfish Ltd Carol Billson [CB] MMO Peter Bullock [PBk] CSMA Peter Buckland [PBd] CSMA Beatrice Roel [BR] CEFAS

Emma Button [EB] Seafood Cornwall Training – taking minutes

Apologies:

Simon Cadman, Mark Greet, Sam Lambourn

Chairman’s Report:

SG delivered the Chairman’s report to the Members. (See attached)

Landing Statistics:

7 out of the 9 member vessels had completed their spreadsheets with both effort and tonnage landed. The two remaining boats had supplied their tonnage but not effort to the CSMA.

Accounts:

SG informed members that at the beginning of the year there had been £4k in the CSMA bank account with an added income from membership of £4400. These funds had been used to pay two invoices from McAllister Elliot for the previous MSC audits and currently the bank account stood at £137.

Members:

Interfish Ltd will now be joining the CSMA.

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Elections:

SG informed the members that he wished to retire from the Chairmanship but that he was willing to continue on as treasurer.

AM proposed that going forward, the CSMA recruit an independent Chairman. After some discussion it was agreed that SG will remain as Chairman until suggestions for a new independent Chairman can be considered. The Vice Chair will be selected from amongst the current members.

It was agreed unanimously that the following members take up or continue with the following posts:

Mark Greet – Vice Chairman Andy Matchett – Secretary Stefan Glinski – Treasurer

CEFAS Presentation:

SG introduced Beatrice Roel from CEFAS who proceeded to give a presentation detailing the scientific research that CEFAS has conducted on the sardine fishery and then invited questions or comments from CSMA members.

 CEFAS have found recent changes in the spawning periods. Spawning now appears to be reducing in the summer months but increasing in the autumn.  CEFAS are currently unsure as to where the nursery stock are located that provide the adult fish for the Cornish Sardine fishery  In one study CEFAS found no genetic differentiation from the Cornish and Biscay stocks. However, they are unable to say whether they still might be from the same stock and need to do more accurate testing.  The CEFAS Poseidon report seems to suggest the transportation of sardine larvae to the north and east of Cornwall which is thought to be dictated by currents and winds.

SG suggested that CEFAS should complete an acoustic survey during peak fishing times in September and not October as has been done previously. He informed her that the largest density of the fishery at this time would be between Plymouth and Lands End.

BR explained that historically CEFAS have completed many of their acoustic surveys in May because this is when the French and Spanish have surveyed their own stocks. She asked the CSMA whether there would be any interest to work with CEFAS on a survey of the stock. She went on to say that potentially CEFAS could hire a local fishing vessel to carry out its surveys as CEFAS’ vessel “RV Endeavour” would have difficulty working inshore.

SG suggested that night surveys should be completed to gain a more accurate result as this is when the fishery stocks tend to separate themselves from other species in the water.

AM suggested that a Fisheries Science Partnership should be established between CEFAS, the CSMA and the University of Plymouth, as by pooling these resources, they would be able to produce a well- rounded survey. He believed that it should be the responsibility of the CSMA to drive forward such a partnership and not that of businesses such as Falfish or Ocean Fish which could be perceived as having their own agenda.

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SG suggested that instead of a one vessel/10 day survey, CEFAS could complete a 3 day/3 vessel survey giving CEFAS a snap shot of the area. It is hoped that this would provide a more accurate survey of the southwest stocks be reducing the risk of surveying fish stocks twice.

BR approved of this idea and informed the members that she would follow this up with her team. A proposal will need to be submitted by November 2014 for a survey to be completed in 2015. BR informed the CSMA that she believed that CEFAS would need to perform more than one survey of the area.

SG asked BR what the CEFAS tonnage estimate was on the southwest stocks and, hypothetically, how much of that stock could be harvested without damaging the stock as a whole. BR estimated the tonnage to be approximately 100,000 and that 20% of the stock could be fished without any lasting damage to the stock as a whole. However, she warned that this was only an estimate and should not be used as a definitive figure.

SG voiced the advantages of having a survey completed by referencing issues that arose regarding Cornish Anchovies. A previous study proved that the Cornish Anchovy fishery was genetically different from the Spanish Anchovy stock which helped to disprove claims from the Spanish fleet that local boats were catching Spanish stocks.

It was agreed that BR would use SG as appoint of contact between CEFAS and the CSMA.

MSC Surveillance:

McAllister Elliot have quoted the CSMA £16,260 for another MSC surveillance to take place in August 2014. This audit would then cover the CSMA for two years.

SG informed the members that neither DEFRA, nor the MMO have put forward any rules or regulations regarding the fishery meaning the CSMA would need to self-regulate. SG highlighted the French catching sector that has put controls in place such as limiting the number of their vessels to 26 with a 20 ton per day catching limit.

SG asked the buyers/processors what their attitude was to MSC.

BD spoke on behalf of Falfish and said that as most of their sardines are exported Falfish would be enthusiastic for the CSMA to keep MSC certification. He voiced concern that, otherwise, his buyers may source sardines from other locations such as Morocco.

AM, for Ocean Fish, said that they saw MSC accreditation as the “Gold Standard”. He admitted that, even though most of their product goes to the Continent and would not be labelled as MSC, he still saw the benefit of MSC accreditation as a way to show the provenance of their fish. AM also highlighted the importance of third party accreditation for the domestic supermarket chains.

LM from Interfish said that MSC gave its product its USP and believed that it was extremely important for the retail sector both here and abroad.

AM suggested that the CSMA could use “Friends of the Sea” as a cheaper alternative to MSC accreditation. However, if an alternative was used he believed that the CSMA should still continue with recording its landing data and the survey in conjunction with CEFAS.

After the discussion it was concluded that the CSMA should continue with MSC accreditation.

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SG announced that the CSMA would need to discuss and establish a Harvest Strategy. PG explained that they had imposed some conditions upon themselves already such as a 20 vessel limit and that the length of vessel to remain under 18m. He made some other suggestions such as imposing a fishing ban from May-June or a limit on landing weights.

SG concluded that the CSMA impose a 40 ton/day limit on landings. He explained that even if the fleet could catch at capacity this would amount to approximately 9000 tonnes a year, about 10% of the stocks. As discussed earlier in the meeting, potentially up to 20% of the stock could be caught without any lasting effects to the fishery as a whole.

Once all members had agreed to these self-imposed regulations the discussion moved on to the payment of the next MSC surveillance audit. AM proposed that the fees should come from both the processors and the boat owners.

SG suggested that the processors contact their respective Fish Producer’s Organisations to enquire as to whether they could waive their fees for that financial year. These funds could then be redistributed to the CSMA to help pay towards the audit fee. All processors present agreed to contact their FPO’s.

SG then went on to say that he would be happy to work out the fees on a proportionate basis as had been suggested to him by MG. He explained that this could be done by splitting the cost of the audit equally between the group of processors and the group of boat owners. This 50% share could then be split equally with those in each group, which would mean that each processor would be liable for approximately £1700 and each boat would be liable for approx £770.

BD agreed in principle to this but suggested that the fee for the processors should be assessed proportionately on their size.

All members agreed to SL working out a fee contribution and contacting all members at a later date.

AM enquired as to whether there would be a cut-off date for membership to the CSMA and SG informed him that the cut-off date would be the end of June 2014.

LM told the Board that she believed pressure to join the CSMA should be coming from the processors and that she would be strongly encouraging both David Pascoe and Adrian Lester to join the Association this year.

SG concluded with the changes that had been made to the PGI included changing the official address to that of Seafood Cornwall Training, updating any references to IFCA and that the Port of Plymouth was now included in order to allow fishermen to land in Plymouth yet still be able to market their fish as Cornish Sardines.

Actions: As requested, SG agreed to email these changes to BD.

Discard Ban:

DEFRA and CEFAS Scientists are to meet with SG, at his house, on Wednesday 4th June at 12pm and SG extended an invitation to any members that may wish to attend.

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Pelagic Management Meeting:

Both PG and SG had attended this meeting and SG had highlighted 3 main problems with DEFRA 1. Keeping small fish segregated 2. Uplifts should only be given to boats fishing now 3. Fishery should be included as a diminimous fishery due to its very low discard results.

AOB:

BR informed members that after briefly speaking with her colleague, it may be possible to perform a 3 vessel/3 night survey as opposed to a 1 vessel/10 day survey.

PB asked whether the CSMA could look into updating its website. SG said he could update the website once he has had in all membership fees.

PBy asked whether or not there will be a market for small fish from the processors. BD replied that processors will be looking into this as a consequence of the discards ban for things such as fish meal.

Meeting Closed

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ANNEX 2: ELECTRONIC LOG SHEET GUIDANCE

Vessel Name PLN PLN = Port Licence Number. Skipper Crew No. Length (m) Gear (m) Mesh (mm) PELAGICS BYCATCH (Landed) Not landed

[sub-area]29E4, 28E4 etc.] [e.g. cod e.g. bass e.g. mullet] Seals Cetaceans ICES Temp. Depth Date SARDINES ANCHOVYSPRATS HERRING MACKERELSCAD Other Other Other DISCARDS OTHER HAULS: No.TIME Fish TIME Sea CommentsCommentsSHEET No. [ ⁰C ] metres dd.mm.yy kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg kg No. hrs hrs Any observations 1 and interaction 2 29E4 3 29E4 4 5 6 1. DO NOT ENTER DATA ON THIS SHEET. ADMIN USE ONLY. 7 8 2. START ON SHEET 1.AND STAY ON IT!! 9 10 3. REMEMBER - ONE LINE PER LANDING. TWO LANDINGS IN 24 HRS - TWO LINES. 11

4. ALL WEIGHTS KG JUST ENTER ALL FISH SPECIES CAUGHT - Insert extra column if needed.

5. DISCARDS ARE CATCH NOT LANDED FOR ANY REASON - SIZE, TOO MUCH TO CARRY, SPECIES NOT WANTED Etc.. SLIPPAGE IS SAME AS DISCARDING IN THIS FISHERY.

6. CONTACT ME ON 07801786347 OR 01736754649 - BUT REMEMBER I WORK IN A DIFFERENT FISHERY!!

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ANNEX 3: COPY OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SW HANDLINE ASSOCIATION AND THE MMO CONCERNING THE CORNISH SARDINE FISHERY.

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ANNEX 4A: PRESENTATION GIVEN BY CEFAS AT THE CSMA AGM

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ANNEX 4B: CEFAS POSEIDON PROGRAMME – RESULTS OF SARDINE & EGG SURVEY 2012-14

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ANNEX 5 : CSMA CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

CSMA Chairman’s Report

2013 - 2014

AGM 30.05.2014

The Sardines arrived offshore in mid-July last year. The water temperature was 18 degrees C and only one or two isolated shoals could be located each night. At the start of the season large areas of the sea were densely populated by jellyfish. The sardines mostly stayed away from the shore, favouring depths more than 15 fm. Nearly all catches were of adult size fish. Mounts Bay and later Falmouth Bay attracted shoals of Horse Mackerel that the fleet tried to avoid.

The Mounts Bay fishery was quieter than the fishery in the east, from Mevagissey to Plymouth. Large shoals of fast moving fish covered an area from 15fm out to 30fm from Falmouth to Plymouth. It was the most sardine I have seen in any season in 9 years fishing but not easy to catch. The very fine weather changed to a very stormy winter hampering fishing and dispersing the shoals.

For the second winter and spring running, vast shoals of around 3 year old Herring suitable only for a limited bait market showed up on the North and South coast of Cornwall. Again in November and December we had a small amount of Mackerel mixing with the Sardines at times. By the end of February bad weather and the mass of Herring appeared to displace the sardines. Therefore the season ended early.

The total Sardine catch for the June 2013 to May 2014 period was 2,670 tonnes, September being the peaking at 700 tonnes. If fishing patterns are the same this year we anticipate an annual catch for 2014 to be around 4,000 tonnes.

Due to the warm weather and higher sea temperatures most vessels used a lot more ice in this season to maintain quality and there seemed to be fewer issues with processors about poor fish quality as in previous years.

The market was strong with buyers being short of fish. The French cannery market took a large part of the catch last year. They had a short supply from their own boats due to the vessels prosecuting the summer anchovy fishery.

CSMA membership increased in the last season. They were Falfish, Trelawney fish, Oceanfish with two vessels (Asthore and Resolute), Sam Lambourn (Lyonesse), Kenny Downing (Pride of Cornwall), Stefan Glinski (White Heather), Peter Blamey

(Galwadymor), Andrew Trevarton (Richard Anne), Mike Brokenshire (Challenge) and John Hunkin (Celtic Dawn ). Honorary members were Peter Ghey (Returns Officer), Simon Cadman CIFCA and Justin Williams MMO.

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The only non-members fishing sardines were Adrian Lester (Hannah Jack) at Plymouth and David Pascoe (Little Pearl) from Newlyn.

Interfish from Plymouth are joining the Association this year bringing their vessel and will hopefully persuade all vessels that land to them to become reporting members.

Changes to the sardine fleet this year: Richard Anne has been sold and replaced with a larger vessel Gallatia. The Little Pearl has been sold and replaced by a larger vessel Serene Dawn.

Planned expansion of the fleet: Ocean fish and Interfish have planned to have two 14 metre vessels constructed. Completion is expected this year. Kenny Downing is in the process if refitting the Harvest Gold (15m) for the Sardine Fishery.

When all these vessels are operational potential catch per day is estimated to double from 140 tonnes per day to 280 tonnes per day.

Reporting on an MS Excel spreadsheet has been accepted by most vessels but two out of the nine vessels have struggled with it this year.

MSC audit by Macallister Elliott was completed and recommended a harvest strategy must be in place for year 4 surveillance audit this year after the French had sorted out their own harvest strategy of a 26 vessels limit and daily catch up to 20 tons.

Progress has been made on updating the PGI document to reflect the changes of address, the change of CSF to IFCA and including the port of Plymouth in the geographical area where Cornish Sardines can be landed. National consultation is expected soon before being put before the commission in Europe.

The Pelagic discard ban implementation is now in the stage to be put forward to Government by Defra. We await the final draft to see if Defra have listened to our and responses from the industry.

Last season’s stock was abundant only until October. Hopefully this year’s fishing will be a bit longer, less challenging and the markets get fully supplied.

Stefan Glinski May 2014

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ANNEX 6 : SEAFISH UPDATE ON CORNISH SARDINE PGI STATUS (SEE PAGE 2-3_

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ANNEX 7 : DEROGATION FROM THE DISCARDS BAN FOR 2015

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ANNEX 8 : CSMA PROPOSED MEMBERS FOR 2014 /15 SEASON

CSMA list of proposed Members 2014

Falfish Ltd, Cardrew Ind. Est.,, Cornwall TR15 1SS 01209 314111

Contact; Mark Greet, [email protected]

Ocean-Fish,”Resolute”, “ Asthore”, Unit2A & 2B Victoria Business park,Roche, St.Austell, Cornwall PL26 8LX

01726 891110 Contact; Andy Matchett, [email protected]

Trelawney Fish, 78 The Strand, Newlyn, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 5HW 01736 361793

Contact; Godfrey Adams, [email protected]

Sam Lambourn “Lyonesse”, Frenchman’s Watch, Elm Close Terrace, Newlyn, Penzance,

Cornwall TR18 5AU.017363 633023 Contact; Sam Lambourn, [email protected]

Stefan Glinski “White Heather”, Trencrom house, Lelant Downs, , Cornwall TR27 6LL.

01736 756279. Contact; Stefan Glinski, [email protected]

Peter Blamey “Gal-Wady-Mor” 42,Lavorrick Orchards, Mevagissey, Cornwall PL26 6TL

01726 843836. Contact; Peter Blamey, [email protected]

Kenny Downing “Pride of Cornwall”, Tree tops, Rosehill, Penzance, Cornwall TR28 TE

Contact; Kenny Downing, [email protected]

John Hunkin, “Celtic Dawn”,Lamorran, School Hill, Mevagissey, Cornwall PL26 6TG

07846426285. Contact; John Hunkin , [email protected]

Andrew Trevarton “Galatea”, 1,Lamorak Close, Mevagissey, Cornwall PL26 6RU

01726 843631, Contact; Andrew Trevarton, [email protected]

Mike Brokenshire, “Challenge”, 36 Fairway, Carlyon Bay, .PL25 3QF

01726 816987. Contact; Mike Brokenshire, 07810124156 [email protected]

David Pascoe, “Serene Dawn”, 11 Chyvellas Close, Newlyn, Penzance, Cornwall TR18 5RB

Contact; David Pascoe 01736 361833 [email protected]

Adrian Lester,” Hannah Jack”

Interfish Ltd, “Nicola May” , Wallsend Ind., Est., Cattedown Road, Plymouth PL4 ORW

Contact; Laura Musgrove, [email protected]

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