The Iceland Sustainable Fisheries (ISF) anglerfish (monkfish) fishery is the first of its kind globally to gain MSC certification.
The UK is the most important market for anglerfish product, taking over 60% of the export and about 70% of the total export is sold as fresh (tails). Other important markets for Icelandic anglerfish are Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, France and Benelux. These are markets where the MSC blue label products are already widely sold.
Kristinn Hjálmarsson, project manager of ISF, said: “We are proud that anglerfish is the latest addition to our MSC certified fisheries. The catch quantity is not much - only 853 tons this fishing year - which makes the cost of certification expensive per ton. However, that does not change the fact that we want to be sustainable.”
Small landings
Historically, anglerfish were caught in the bottom trawl fishery, but fishing has developed to gillnets and other gear. From 2000 to 2007 most of the gillnet fishery’s catches took place in the south of Iceland, but since 2008 most of its fishing grounds are now in the west of Iceland.
In recent years the work of the main fishery has taken place in late summer and into the winter. The annual landings have been less than 1000 metric tonnes a year for the last three years.
Currently all pelagic fisheries in Iceland and over 90% (by volume) of all landings are certified.
