PUBLIC CERTIFICATION REPORT FOR THE Reassessment of the Norway North Sea demersal fisheries Norges Fiskarlag Report No.: 2017-024, Rev. 4 Date: 2018.06.11 Certificate code: F-DNV-60011 Report type: Public Certification Report for the DNV GL – Business Assurance Report title: Reassessment of the Norway North Sea demersal fisheries DNV GL Business Assurance Customer: Norges Fiskarlag, Pirsenteret, 7462 Trondheim Norway AS Contact person: Tor Bjørklund Larsen Veritasveien 1 Date of issue: 2018.06.11 1322 HØVIK, Norway Project No.: PRJC-504565-2014-MSC-NOR Tel: +47 67 57 99 00 Organisation unit: ZNONO418 http://www.dnvgl.com Report No.: 2017-024, Rev.4 Certificate No.: F-DNV-60011 Objective: Re-assessment of the Norway North Sea demersal fisheries against MSC Fisheries Standards v2.0 (Assessment tree v.1.3). Prepared by: Verified by: Mrs. Sandhya Chaudhury Sigrun Bekkevold Team Leader and Chain of Custody expert Hans Lassen Team expert P1 Lucia.Revenga Giertych Team expert P2 Geir Hønneland Team expert P3 Copyright © DNV GL 2014. All rights reserved. This publication or parts thereof may not be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, whether digitally or otherwise without the prior written consent of DNV GL. DNV GL and the Horizon Graphic are trademarks of DNV GL AS. The content of this publication shall be kept confidential by the customer, unless otherwise agreed in writing. Reference to part of this publication which may lead to misinterpretation is prohibited. DNV GL Distribution: Keywords: ☒ Unrestricted distribution (internal and external) MSC Fisheries, Norway, North sea, saithe, Pollachius ☐ Unrestricted distribution within DNV GL virens, cod, Gadus morhua, haddock, ☐ Limited distribution within DNV GL after 3 years Melanogrammus aeglefinus, hake (European), ☐ No distribution (confidential) Merluccius merluccius, re-assessment ☐ Secret Rev. Date Reason for Issue Prepared by Verified by No. 0 2017-12-05 Client Draft Report Hans Lassen, Lucia Revenga, Geir Hønneland & Sandhya Chaudhury 1 2018-01-18 Peer Review Draft Report Hans Lassen, Lucia Revenga, Geir Hønneland & Sandhya Chaudhury 2 2018-02-28 Public Comment Draft Report Hans Lassen, Lucia Revenga, Geir Hønneland & Sandhya Chaudhury 3 2018-04-26 Final Report Hans Lassen, Lucia Revenga, Geir Hønneland & Sandhya Chaudhury 3.1 2018-05-04 Determination & Final Report Hans Lassen, Lucia Revenga, Geir Hønneland & Sandhya Chaudhury 4 2018-06-11 Public Certification Report Hans Lassen, Lucia Revenga, Geir Hønneland & Sandhya Chaudhury DNV GL – Report No. 2017-024, Rev. 4 – www.dnvgl.com MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.1 – issued 8 April 2015 Template approval date: Page i Table of contents ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS .................................................................................................... 1 STOCK ASSESSMENT REFERENCE POINTS ..................................................................................... 1 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................... 2 1.1 Main strengths and weaknesses of the client’s operation 3 1.2 Determination / draft determination 3 2 AUTHORSHIP AND PEER REVIEWERS ............................................................................... 5 2.1 Assessment team 5 2.2 Peer reviewers 7 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE FISHERY ...................................................................................... 8 3.1 Unit(s) of Assessment (UoA) and scope of certification sought 8 3.2 Overview of the fishery 13 3.3 Principle One: Target Species Background 17 3.4 Principle Two: Ecosystem Background 32 3.5 Principle Three: Management System Background 52 4 EVALUATION PROCEDURE ............................................................................................ 56 4.1 Harmonised Fishery Assessment 56 4.2 Previous assessments 60 4.3 Assessment Methodologies 61 4.4 Evaluation Processes and Techniques 62 5 TRACEABILITY ............................................................................................................ 68 5.1 Eligibility Date 68 5.2 Traceability within the Fishery 68 5.3 Eligibility to Enter Further Chains of Custody 71 5.4 Eligibility of Inseparable or Practicably Inseparable (IPI) stock(s) to Enter Further Chains of Custody 72 6 EVALUATION RESULTS ................................................................................................ 73 6.1 Principle Level Scores 73 6.2 Summary of PI Level Scores 74 6.3 Summary of Conditions 78 6.4 Recommendations 78 6.5 Determination, Formal Conclusion and Agreement 79 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 80 APPENDIX 1 SCORING AND RATIONALES .................................................................................... 85 Appendix 1.1 Performance Indicator Scores and Rationale 85 Principle 1- Saithe 85 Principle 1- Cod 96 Principle 1- Haddock 109 Principle 1- Hake 120 Principle 2 131 Principle 3 187 DNV GL – Report No. 2017-024, Rev. 4 – www.dnvgl.com MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.1 – issued 8 April 2015 Template approval date: Page ii Appendix 1.3 Conditions 209 APPENDIX 2 PEER REVIEW REPORTS .........................................................................................216 APPENDIX 3 HARMONISATION ..................................................................................................248 APPENDIX 4 STAKEHOLDER SUBMISSIONS ................................................................................256 APPENDIX 5 SURVEILLANCE FREQUENCY ...................................................................................270 APPENDIX 6 OBJECTIONS PROCESS ..........................................................................................271 APPENDIX 7 LIST OF VESSELS..................................................................................................279 APPENDIX 8 CLIENT AGREEMENT ..............................................................................................323 DNV GL – Report No. 2017-024, Rev. 4 – www.dnvgl.com MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.1 – issued 8 April 2015 Template approval date: Page iii ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS ACOM (ICES) Advisory Committee CPUE Catch per unit effort DoF Directorate of Fisheries ETP Endangered, threatened and protected species FAM Fisheries assessment methodology FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FCR Fisheries certification Requirements GLM Generalized linear model ICES International Council of the Seas IMR Institute for Marine Research MFCA Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs MSC Marine Stewardship Council NEA North East Arctic NFA Norges Fiskarlag NS North Sea PI Performance indicator PISG Performance Indicator Scoring Guidepost SG Scoring Guidepost SSB Spawning stock biomass TAC Total allowable catch UOC Unit of Certification VME Vulnerable marine ecosystems VMS Vessel monitoring system WGDEEP (ICES) Working Group on the Biology and Assessment of Deep-sea Fisheries Resources XSA Extended survivors analysis STOCK ASSESSMENT REFERENCE POINTS B0 The (spawning) biomass expected if there had been no fishing (assuming recruitment as estimated through stock assessment). Blim Spawning biomass limit reference point, sometimes used as a trigger within harvest control rules, or defined as the point below which recruitment is expected to be impaired or the stock dynamics are unknown Bmsy Spawning Biomass at which the maximum sustainable yield is expected (sometimes expressed as SBmsy) Btarg Spawning biomass target reference point Flim Exploitation rate limit reference point, often taken as Fmsy based on UNFSA Fmsy Fishing mortality rate associated with the achieving maximum sustainable yield Ftarg Fishing mortality target reference point MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield DNV GL – Report No. 2017-024, Rev. 4 – www.dnvgl.com MSC Full Assessment Reporting Template V2.1 – issued 8 April 2015 Template approval date: Page 1 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides information on the re- assessment of the Norway North Sea demersal fisheries against Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard. The re-assessment is for the North Sea saithe with additional species cod, haddock and hake as target species. The report is prepared by DNV GL for the client Norges Fiskarlag. The Norway North Sea saithe fishery received its original certificate on 16 June 2008 and was re- certified on 16 June 2013 (Certificate number: F-DNV-60011, valid until 16 June 2018). The re-assessment, along with scope extension to include North Sea cod, haddock and hake, was announced on the MSC website 17th August 2017 followed by a supporting notice to stakeholders issued by the MSC on the same date. The change of fishery name and change in UOC was announced on 23.11.2017. Direct email notification was also sent to the stakeholders previously identified for this fishery, inviting interested parties to contact the audit team. The re-assessment audit was performed as an on-site audit in Oslo and Bergen, Norway. The re- assessment activities were carried out by DNV GL team leader and CoC expert Mrs. Sandhya Chaudhury and Independent MSC Fisheries experts Hans Lassen, Lucia Revenga and Geir Hønneland during 19 -20 September 2017. The assessment team gathered input from the various stakeholders, including the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, the Institute of Marine Research, the Directorate of Fisheries and the client fishery. The re-assessment