The Astrid Fiske North Sea herring fishery - Sweden’s prized ‘maatjes’ herring fishery - has been certified as a sustainable and well managed fishery following a 14-month assessment by independent specialist fisheries and seafood certifier Food Certification International. Subject to MSC’s traceability certification, maatjes herring from the fishery are now eligible to carry the coveted MSC eco-label.
Maatjes are natural fermented and cured herring which can be eaten raw. They are a Dutch speciality sold in The Netherlands as well as in Germany and Belgium. As the fishery has an unusually short season – fishing from mid May for only six weeks – the certifier has back-dated the certificate to the publication date for the final report – a process allowed under the MSC standard. As a result, all of this season’s fish currently curing will be eligible to carry the MSC eco-label. In total the fishery catches around 3,000 metric tonnes of herring per year.
Every step in the supply chain will be certified under the MSC’s Chain of Custody traceability programme to assure customers that the MSC eco-labelled maatjes on sale can be traced all the way back to the Astrid Fiske vessels.
Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the Marine Stewardship Council says: “I am delighted that the Astrid Fiske North Sea herring fishery has been certified. This is a very selective fishery that avoids catching other species of fish and will be cooperating with specialists from the Swedish board of fisheries on research and observer coverage on boats as a result of its certification.
“As a result it has scored highly against MSC principles 2 – environment – and 3 – fishery management and fishing practice with an overall score of 91 for both. This is the third Swedish fishery to be certified but it is the fourth herring fishery and I very much hope its MSC certification will create new market opportunities for Astrid Fiske AB both within Sweden and more extensively through the rest of Scandinavia and Europe as demand for MSC certified and labelled product continues to grow exponentially.”
