To Ian Gatt, chief executive of the SPFA, mackerel is still sustainably caught. (Photo: Stockfile)

Scottish fishers assert that the mackerel stock remains sustainable

UNITED KINGDOM
Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 05:10 (GMT + 9)

Scottish fishers are responding to the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) removal of mackerel from its Fish to Eat list by asserting that mackerel is in fact still being sustainably caught and trying to encourage consumers to buy it.

The northward-bound mackerel stock has been moving more and more into Icelandic and Faroese waters, which has led these countries to increase their fishing of the species. 

According to the MCS, the total mackerel catch far exceeds scientific recommendations and previously agreed-upon quotas, so that the stock can no longer be considered sustainable.

The stock has already lost its Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for the same reason.

Ian Gatt, chief executive of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association (SPFA), pointed out that consumers must be made aware that mackerel is in fact still being caught sustainably – and that stock abundance has in fact grown in the north-east Atlantic. 

“However, the over-fishing of the stock by Iceland and the Faroes is leading to some uncertainty over the future, and this is why it is essential that these countries come back to the negotiating table and agree a sensible deal,” Gatt stated. 

“We believe the MCS have reacted far too quickly on this and have not taken into account the current science and projects that are about to be undertaken to shed further information on the stock status of mackerel,” he accused.

Gatt told that last year’s scientific advice stated that the mackerel spawning stock biomass was estimated to be 2.7 million tonnes with a scientific safe biological figure of 2.3 million tonnes, and that the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) believes that at current exploitation levels, the stock will remain above that line until 2014. 

“The scientific advice states that catches must be reduced and the EU and Norway have recognised this fact and will reduce their quotas by at least 15 per cent this year,” he said. 

To gain a much better notion of the stock’s health, several scientific surveys and projects will be undertaken over the next year.

This includes:     

• A scientific meeting of Norway, Iceland and the Faroes during February to expand the survey and improve the quality of the results from the study which will eventually feed into the scientific assessment.  
• The European pelagic industry under the auspices of the Northern Pelagic Working Group are convening meetings with pelagic scientists to establish what potential information the industry could contribute to the improvement of data for the mackerel stock assessment.  
• The tri-annual egg survey will be carried out during the spring period, which will provide a much improved picture of the current stock status.  Results will be released in September.
• ICES will undertake a benchmarking exercise on mackerel during February 2014, reviewing all available data, including any new information. The output from this exercise is to refine the current assessment method in a bid to improve information regarding the stock, including recruitment, mortality and biomass.

Related article:

- Conservation group downgrades mackerel rating

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

Print