MSC SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES CERTIFICATION FFA Finland Baltic Herring & Sprat Fishery Public Certification Report June 2018 Certificate Code: F-ACO-0123 Client: Finland Fishermen’s Association / Suomen Ammattikalastajaliitto R.Y. Assessment Conducted by: Acoura Marine Ltd On behalf of Acoura Jim Andrews and Giuseppe Scarcella Acoura Version V2.1 04/01/17 Acoura Marine Public Certification Report FFA Finland Baltic Herring & Sprat Fishery Assessment Data Sheet FFA Finland Baltic Herring & Sprat Fishery Public Certification Report June 2018 CAB details Acoura Marine Address 6 Redheughs Rigg Edinburgh EH12 9DQ Phone/Fax 0131 335 6662 Email [email protected] Contact name(s) Fisheries Department Client details Finland Fishermen’s Association / Suomen Ammattikalastajaliitto R.Y. Address Jordaksentie 124, FIN-07840, Lindkoski, Finland Phone/Fax +358 400720690 Email [email protected] Contact name(s) Kim Jordas Assessment Team Team Leader Jim Andrews P1 Assessor Giuseppe Scarcella P2 Assessor Jim Andrews P3 Assessor Jim Andrews Copyright © 2018 by Acoura Marine All rights reserved. No portion of this report may be reproduced in any manner for use by any other MSC Conformity Assessment Body without the express written permission of Acoura Marine, and subject to such conditions specified by Acoura Marine in any such permission. Page 2 of 380 Acoura Marine Full Assessment Template per MSC V2.0 02/12/2015 Acoura Marine Public Certification Report FFA Finland Baltic Herring & Sprat Fishery Contents 1 Glossary ...................................................................................................................... 12 2 Executive Summary ..................................................................................................... 14 3 Authorship and Peer Reviewers ................................................................................... 16 Assessment Team ................................................................................................ 16 Peer Reviewers ............................................................................................. 17 RBF Training ......................................................................................................... 17 4 Description of the Fishery ............................................................................................ 18 Units of Assessment (UoA) ................................................................................... 18 Units of Assessment ...................................................................................... 18 Other eligible fishers ...................................................................................... 19 Overlapping fisheries ..................................................................................... 20 Overlapping fisheries ..................................................................................... 20 Final UoC(s) .......................................................................................................... 20 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and Catch Data ....................................................... 21 Scope of fishery .................................................................................................... 23 Overview of the fishery ......................................................................................... 24 Overview ........................................................................................................ 24 Trawl fishery .................................................................................................. 25 Herring Trap fishery ....................................................................................... 28 Principle One: Target Species Background ........................................................... 35 Sprat (Sprattus sprattus) in the Baltic Sea (Subdivisions 22-32) .................... 35 Herring ........................................................................................................... 40 Fishery management in the Baltic Sea ........................................................... 52 Multiannual plan for the stocks of cod, herring and sprat in the Baltic Sea and the fisheries exploiting those stocks, amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2187/2005 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1098/2007 ................................................. 54 Multispecies considerations for the central Baltic stocks: cod in Subdivisions 25– 32, herring in Subdivisions 25–29 and 32, and sprat in Subdivisions 22–32 ................. 56 Target Species as “Key Low Trophic Level (LTL)” Species ............................ 60 Principle Two: Ecosystem Background ................................................................. 62 Primary & secondary non-target species ........................................................ 62 Endangered, Threatened & Protected (ETP).................................................. 80 Habitats ......................................................................................................... 99 Ecosystems ................................................................................................. 107 Principle Three: Management System Background............................................. 110 Legal & Customary Framework .................................................................... 110 Fishery management objectives................................................................... 118 Management systems and processes .......................................................... 120 Monitoring and evaluation ............................................................................ 127 Page 3 of 380 Acoura Marine Full Assessment Template per MSC V2.0 02/12/2015 Acoura Marine Public Certification Report FFA Finland Baltic Herring & Sprat Fishery 5 Evaluation Procedure ................................................................................................. 128 Harmonised Fishery Assessment ........................................................................ 128 Harmonisation activities ............................................................................... 128 Comparison of scores .................................................................................. 129 Previous assessments ........................................................................................ 131 Assessment Methodologies ................................................................................ 131 Evaluation Processes and Techniques ............................................................... 132 Site Visits ..................................................................................................... 132 Consultations ............................................................................................... 132 Evaluation Techniques ................................................................................. 132 Risk Based Framework (RBF) Use .............................................................. 135 Scoring elements ......................................................................................... 137 6 Traceability ................................................................................................................ 140 Eligibility Date ..................................................................................................... 140 Traceability within the Fishery ............................................................................. 140 Trawl fishery UoAs ....................................................................................... 140 Trap fishery UoAs ........................................................................................ 141 Eligibility to Enter Further Chains of Custody ...................................................... 142 Parties eligible to use the fishery certificate ................................................. 143 Point of change of ownership of product ...................................................... 143 List of eligible landing points ........................................................................ 143 Eligibility of Inseparable or Practicably Inseparable (IPI) stock(s) to Enter Further Chains of Custody ......................................................................................................... 144 7 Evaluation Results ..................................................................................................... 145 Principle Level Scores ........................................................................................ 145 Summary of PI Level Scores ............................................................................... 145 Summary of Conditions ....................................................................................... 145 Recommendations .............................................................................................. 145 Determination, Formal Conclusion and Agreement ............................................. 145 Changes in the fishery prior to and since Pre-Assessment ............................................ 146 8 References ................................................................................................................ 148 9 Appendix 1: Assessment Tree ................................................................................... 163 MSC Principles & Criteria .................................................................................... 163 10 Appendix 2 Scoring and Rationales