Icelandic companies, Samherji hf and Síldarvinnslan hf have been awarded Marine Stewardship Council certificates for both of their herring fisheries.
The Norwegian spring-spawning herring and Icelandic summer-spawning herring fisheries together land just under 91,000 metric tons annually, representing 24.95 percent of the Icelandic quota for Norwegian spring-spawning herring and 28.84 percent or the quota for Icelandic summer-spawning herring.
The certification includes six pelagic trawlers and one processing vessel that catches and processes fish at sea. Under Icelandic fishing law, the processing vessel carries a scientific observer at all times. All of the herring catches included in the assessment are used for human consumption, with trimmings being used for fishmeal production. Sildarvinnslan hf is the country's largest catcher and processor of pelagic species and largest producer of fishmeal and oil.
“This MSC certification is an important milestone for the herring industry as we now have both the fishery and our processing certified,” said Gunnthor Ingvason, Sildarvinnslan CEO. “It will strengthen the herring position in overseas markets and it gives our customers verification that we are utilizing the herring stocks sustainably. We look at this certification as a tool to strengthen our market position.”
The main European markets for the herring are: Poland, France, Ukraine, Russia and Belarus with Nigeria as biggest market in Africa. The fishmeal produced by Sildarvinnslan hf goes to feed producers mainly in western Europe.
“This is great news for the Icelandic pelagic industry. Samherji started and completed this assessment. After this process started, the Icelandic Sustainable Fisheries (ISF) were founded and ISF is the main client for MSC,” Gisli Gislason, MSC manager for Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland. “Samherji is an ISF shareholder and intends to share the certificate with ISF. With wide and varied export markets, the globally-recognized MSC label will be a useful tool to market their herring as certified sustainable Icelandic fish.”
In the assessment, certifiers FCI praised the Icelandic management of the fishery that resulted in only two conditions of certification: the development of formal harvest control rules during the certification and a condition in relation to the management of the fishery’s mackerel bycatch.
