With the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) issuing new advice last week urging cuts in the fishing effort on key Northeast Atlantic pelagic stocks in 2022, the North Atlantic Pelagic Advocacy Group (NAPA) has again called on those coastal states involved in the fisheries to follow scientific recommendations, stressing that the continued overfishing of these stocks is having an impact on their long-term sustainability.
ICES, which manages the fishery, advised the 2022 catch for Northeast Atlantic mackerel should be no more than 794,920 metric tons (MT), a 6.7 percent reduction from the 2021 catch advice. For Atlanto-Scandian herring, ICES recommends a catch of no more than 598,588 MT, an 8 percent reduction from this year’s catch advice, while the advised 2022 catch for blue whiting is no more than 752,736 MT – a 19 percent reduction from its 2021 advice.
In a statement, NAPA said the mackerel advice reflects a decrease in the estimated spawning-stock size in 2021 of 3,510,849 MT from 3,938,555 MT in 2020 (a 10.9 percent decrease).
Meanwhile, the biomass of both Atlanto-Scandian herring and blue whiting is showing positive signs, but the current fishing pressure is above a level that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the stocks, it said.
“The continuing dispute over quota allocation of these species has resulted in annual catches well in excess of the advice. The agreed quotas for 2021 reveal that ICES advice is being exceeded by 42 percent for mackerel, 39 percent for Atlanto-Scandian herring and 30 percent for blue whiting,” NAPA said. “It is therefore no surprise that the mackerel spawning-stock size has decreased and that there is now a call for further catch reductions.”
The body, which represents more than 40 retailers, foodservice companies, and suppliers from inside and outside the European Union, and which is collectively a major buyer of Northeast Atlantic pelagics, said the situation is having “major implications for business.”
NAPA said the coastal states’ “mismanagement of these fisheries” has so far resulted in the loss of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification, which in turn implies that fisheries are no longer publicly recognized against well-known independent certification programs for fisheries sustainability, while the loss of MarinTrust certification for blue whiting is a “significant step back” for salmon aquaculture, which is that fishery’s biggest customer.
It said the issue is “entirely political,” and that coastal states “merely need to agree on catch shares that follow the ICES advice.”
In September 2021, and ahead of this month’s North Atlantic Coastal States Meeting 2021, NAPA wrote an open letter to coastal states ministers and their delegations stating that its members want to see coastal states taking a leadership position and commit to the science-based management of Northeast Atlantic mackerel, Atlanto-Scandian herring, and blue whiting.
NAPA’s letter urged the ministers to ensure that the science-based catch limit recommendations from ICES are followed, to implement management plans with stakeholders agreeing to and working toward long‐term sustainable objectives, and to resolve the allocation issues around these stocks with the priority step of reestablishing the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) Working Group on Allocation.
