MOODY MARINE LTD Ref: 802020 v6 Author(s): J Nichols, T Huntington, D. Bennett, A. Hough Public Certification Report for NESFC Sea Bass Fishery Client: North East Sea Fisheries Committee Certification Body: Client Contact: Moody Marine Ltd North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee Moody International Certification Town Hall Merlin House Bridlington Stanier Way East Riding of Yorkshire. YO16 4LP Wyvern Business Park Tel: +44 (0)1482 393690 Derby DE21 6BF Fax: +44 (0)1482 393699 UK Tel: +44 (0) 1332 544663 Fax: +44 (0) 1332 675020 802020 v6 Public Certification Report Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 1.1 THE FISHERY PROPOSED FOR CERTIFICATION ..................................................................... 1 1.2 REPORT STRUCTURE AND ASSESSMENT PROCESS ................................................................ 1 1.3 INFORMATION SOURCES USED ................................................................................................ 2 1.3.1 Principal Information Sources .................................................................................................... 2 1.3.2 Other information sources .......................................................................................................... 2 2 BACKGROUND TO THE FISHERY ................................................................... 5 2.1 BIOLOGY OF THE TARGET SPECIES ....................................................................................... 5 2.2 HISTORY OF THE FISHERY ....................................................................................................... 8 2.2.1 NW European Fishery ............................................................................................................. 8 2.2.2 North Sea Fishery .................................................................................................................... 9 2.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT FISHERY ................................................................................. 10 2.3.1 Gears Used ................................................................................................................................. 10 2.3.3 Quotas and Controls .................................................................................................................. 12 2.3 FISHING LOCATIONS AND ADMINISTRATIVE BOUNDARIES ............................................. 13 2.4 ECOSYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................................................ 14 2.5 BY-CATCH AND DISCARD ...................................................................................................... 16 2.5.1 Incidental Catch ...................................................................................................................... 16 2.5.2 Discards ................................................................................................................................. 17 2.5.3 Catch of Threatened, Rare and Iconic Species ........................................................................... 17 2.6 HABITAT AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS ................................................................................... 17 2.6.1 Habitat Impacts ..................................................................................................................... 17 2.6.2 Gear Loss and Ghost Fishing ................................................................................................. 17 2.6.3 Ecosystem Impacts .................................................................................................................. 18 3 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTEXT .......................................................................... 19 3.1 LEGISLATION ........................................................................................................................... 19 3.1.1 General .................................................................................................................................. 19 3.1.2 Species Specific ........................................................................................................................ 19 3.1.3 Local Byelaws ......................................................................................................................... 20 3.2 MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES AND INTERACTIONS ................................................... 20 3.2.1 North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee .................................................................................. 20 4 STOCK ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................... 22 4.1 MANAGEMENT UNIT .............................................................................................................. 22 4.2 MONITORING OF STOCK STATUS ......................................................................................... 22 4.3 MODELLING ............................................................................................................................ 23 4.4 MANAGEMENT ADVICE ......................................................................................................... 24 5 FISHERY MANAGEMENT ................................................................................ 25 5.1 MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................. 25 5.2 CONSULTATIVE PROCESS ....................................................................................................... 25 6 STANDARD USED ............................................................................................... 26 PRINCIPLE 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 26 PRINCIPLE 2 ........................................................................................................................................... 26 PRINCIPLE 3 ........................................................................................................................................... 27 802020 v6 Public Certification Report 7 BACKGROUND TO THE EVALUATION ........................................................ 29 7.1 EVALUATION TEAM ................................................................................................................ 29 7.2 PREVIOUS CERTIFICATION EVALUATIONS ........................................................................... 29 7.3 INSPECTIONS OF THE FISHERY ............................................................................................. 30 8 STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION .................................................................. 31 8.1 STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION ........................................................................................... 31 8.2 STAKEHOLDER ISSUES ............................................................................................................ 31 9 OBSERVATIONS AND SCORING ..................................................................... 32 9.1 INTRODUCTION TO SCORING METHODOLOGY .................................................................. 32 9.2 EVALUATION RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 32 10 LIMIT OF IDENTIFICATION OF LANDINGS FROM THE FISHERY ...... 33 11 CERTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION ....................................................... 34 11.1 CERTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................... 34 11.2 SCOPE OF CERTIFICATION ..................................................................................................... 34 11.3 PRE-CONDITIONS, CONDITIONS OR RECOMMENDATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH CERTIFICATION ................................................................................................................................ 34 11.3.1 Pre-Conditions ................................................................................................................... 34 11.3.2 Conditions .......................................................................................................................... 34 11.3.3 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 36 12 AGREEMENT ...................................................................................................... 37 12.1 APPLICANT'S AGREEMENT TO MEET SPECIFIED CONDITIONS. ....................................... 37 Appendices APPENDIX A: SCORING TABLE APPENDIX B: CLIENT ACTION PLAN APPENDIX C: PEER REVIEW REPORTS List of Tables and Figures Tables TABLE 1: PROPORTION MATURE AND MEAN WEIGHT AT AGE FOR SEA BASS (COMBINED SEXES) ................................... 7 TABLE 2: MEETINGS HELD DURING THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS.......................................................................................... 30 TABLE 3: STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS HELD .................................................................................................................. 31 Figures FIGURE 1: DIAGRAMMATIC REPRESENTATION OF A INTERTIDAL SEA BASS NET ............................................................ 11 FIGURE 2: PHOTOGRAPH OF A FIXED NET SITE (A) ............................................................................................................... 11 FIGURE 3: PHOTOGRAPH OF A FIXED NET SITE (B) ..............................................................................................................