According to the information the first silver smelt fishery is going to be assessed against the MSC standard for sustainable and well-managed fisheries, and is the first silver smelt fishery in the MSC programme. The fishery located around the Faroe Islands and the Faroe Plateau where six vessels, using semi-pelagic Demersal trawls, catch around 20.000 tonnes of silver smelt annually.
The main markets for this fishery are Norway and the EU and if the MSC assessment is successfully completed, products from the fishery will be eligible to carry the MSC ecolabel. Joen Magnus Rasmussen, managing director of Tavan SP/F, said that they have always focused on producing a high quality product. He added that the fishery is exploiting the silver smelt stock on a sustainable basis. Several years ago we agreed not to take more out of the stocks than the fishery authorities and fishery researchers recommended.
Camiel Derichs, Deputy Director Europe for the MSC said that Silver Smelt is one of these less known species that is used in a wide variety of seafood products, such as the famous Scandinavian fish cakes. Over the next months the fishery will be able to demonstrate in a robust and transparent assessment process if it meets the MSC standards for sustainable fishing. Amongst other things, the status and management of the stock as well as the impact of the fishery on the eco-system will be assessed.
