The Danish North Sea cod fishery has achieved its long-awaited MSC certification. Certification recognises that cod caught by members of the Danish Fishermen Producer Organisation (DFPO) comes from a well-managed fishery and that fishing practices meet stringent MSC requirements.
The North Sea cod fishery as a whole has been through some turbulent years as the stock dropped. since then there have been rigid restrictions, days at sea on top of quotas, a long-term cod recovery plan and numerous other measures put in place to help cod recover, many of which have been seen by the industry itself as dubious, ineffective or counter-productive – but cod has now recovered its strength to the point that it is judged to have reached stock levels comparable to those of the early 1980s.
‘The stock has been growing steadily over the last decade and our fishermen have been prudent in their fishery patterns using more and more selective fishing gears,’ said DFPO president Svend-Erik Andersen.
‘We are very proud to be the first mover in getting cod in the North Sea and the Skagerrak MSC certified. The MSC certification is the gold standard for sustainability in fisheries,’ he added.
Independent certification body Acoura Marine was responsible for assessing the fishery to the MSC Fisheries Standard found that the cod stock is recovering well, with enough mature fish to allow continued growth. This was confirmed in the 2016 stock assessment which shows a continuing upwards trend in the number of cod, along with reduced catches.
‘The DFPO has been instrumental in driving improvements of the North Sea cod stock and it is timely that the management and fishery gets the credit they deserve for this success story,’ said Minna Epps, Director of Marine Stewardship Council in Scandinavia.
Over the next five years, in order to maintain its MSC certification, the fishery has committed to deliver further actions to ensure the long term sustainability of North Sea cod. Its MSC certification requires the fishery to ensure that cod catches are at long-term sustainable levels and to implement an effective rebuilding strategy, along with a robust and precautionary harvest strategy. Progress on delivering these conditions will be monitored annually.
The DFPO North Sea cod fishery is certified as an extension to the already certified DFPO North Sea and Skagerrak saithe fishery. This is a mixed fishery where the cod is caught along with saithe and other species. Therefore, only the new components added to the fishery – i.e. the cod stock – has been evaluated in this assessment.
The fishery (including both cod and saithe) is due to be fully reassessed to the MSC Fisheries Standard in 2017. The agreed milestones for improvements by the cod fishery will be absorbed as part of this reassessment.
