The Certification Body and the Food Certification International have been considering the report of the assessment team, the report of the Peer Review panel and all stakeholder comments. The Determination reached by the certification body is that the IPSG western mackerel pelagic trawl fishery should be certified in accordance with the MSC Standard.
They have decided that the certified could be awarded to the fishery as it failed to fulfill the requirement. It is said that there is now a 15 working day period during which a party may lodge a statement of intent to object to the determinations reached. It is told that any intent to file an objection should first be addressed to the certification body.
The location of this fishery is North East Atlantic, ICES areas IIa, Vb, VI, VII, VIIIa, b, d, e, XII and XIV. The fishing method use in this fishery is trawl. The fishery entered for full assessment is targeted by the fleet of 23 Irish owned and operated large RSW (refrigerated seawater) pelagic mid-water trawl vessels that are in membership of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation (KFO) and the Irish Fish Producers Organisation (IFPO)
The NEA mackerel TAC is agreed by the Coastal States (EU, Norway and Faeroe Islands). It is divided into a number of components: North Sea TAC (EU and Norway), Western TAC (EU, Norway and Faeroes), Southern TAC (EU only) and NEAFC TAC (Coastal States, Russia and Iceland). In addition, Norway grants 1,865 t of quota to Sweden. Landings from the Irish pelagic RSW vessels that fish the Western mackerel fishery are used entirely for human consumption. Most of such landings are processed locally before export as frozen product to significant markets in Japan, Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, or to intermediate markets in Western Europe and South East Asia.
