Friend of the Sea has refused to certify the Namibian and South African trawl fisheries targeting two hake species in the South East Atlantic due to overexploitation, seabed impact and the by-catch of red-listed sharks and skates.
According to the most recent stock assessment “the spawning biomass for Cape hakes (both species) is currently at about 20% of its pristine level” and “M. paradoxus component of the hake resource is severely depleted (estimated to be <10% of its pristine level)".
As far as the impact of the hake bottom trawling fishery on the seabed, the most comprehensive study concludes that "Hake directed trawling is expected to reduce habitat complexity including the removal of sessile epifauna and the alteration of physical structure."
Finally, the level of discards in hake bottom trawling fisheries can represent up to 20% of total catch (FAO, Discards in World Marine Fisheries. An Update, 2005). An extrapolation of an onboard observer report of 24 fishing activities indicates that approximately 500,000 and 1 million skates could be victims of bycatch every year by the Namibian and South African hake fisheries, some of these listed on the IUCN red-list.
The Friend of the Sea pre-audit concluded that it was not worth authorising an audit for certification, as the fisheries were not compliant with essential certification criteria and therefore stood no chance of being certified.
