PFA Atlanto Scandian herring fishery has secured certification against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) environmental standard for sustainable and well managed fisheries. As per information the Atlanto Scandian herring fishery is PFA’s third fishery to achieve MSC certification: its North Sea herring and its North East Atlantic mackerel fisheries were certified in 2006 and in 2009.
The annual landing of Atlanto Scandian herring is nearly 41,000 metric tones and now it will use the blue MSC ecolabel. The fishery comprises 26 freezer-trawlers owned by ten companies from six EU-countries. The vessels catch Atlanto Scandian herring using pelagic [2] midwater trawls and carry a variety of nets on board. These are designed to optimise selectivity and catching efficiency for different target species of fish.
The main market of this fishery is the European Union, frozen Atlanto Scandian herring is sold worldwide, for example, in a number countries on the African continent. Gerard van Balsfoort, president of PFA told that it is good to know that another of their important fisheries has been certified against the MSC principles and criteria.
According to him the certification perfectly fits their long term objective to have a responsible and economically viable fishing operation. Camiel Derichs, Manager Northern Europe of the MSC said that the PFA has been a driving force over the last years promoting MSC certified North Sea herring, in the Netherlands and abroad.
