North Sea herring TAC reduction beyond “painful”

While pelagic fishermen around the North Sea expressed satisfaction with the quantity and quality of the herring, the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) stunned the industry with its advice to reduce the TAC by 50% because of continuing low recruitment.

Following last year's ICES advice of a TAC reduction of 50% a hard fought compromise of a 35% TAC reduction was hammered out between the industry majority and the environmentalist non government organisations (NGO) minority on the Pelagic North Sea Regional Advisory Committee (RAC).

“Even with only the normally acceptable reduction of 15% we would see our TAC already being reduced by 40% from 540,000 tonnes to 340,000 tonnes, but ICES wants a reduction to 175,000 tonnes and that is unacceptable,” said Dutch dominated Pelagic Freezer trawler Association (PFA) president Gerard van Balsfoort.

While he admitted that the industry would have to accept another “painful” reduction, Mr van Balsfoort warned that EU pelagic fishermen could not absorb a 50% reduction and the need for alternative fisheries and fishing grounds off Mauritania and in the South Pacific was greater than ever.

Mr van Balsfoort stressed that EU pelagic fishermen had already made important steps to guarantee the sustainable management of stocks like the Marine Steward Council's (MSC) certificate for the PFA's own North Sea herring fishery and he praised the Scottish pelagic refrigerated seawater trawler sector for its aim to achieve MSC certificates for its herring and mackerel fisheries.

The RAC has asked ICES to seriously study the alternative hypothesis put forward by Dutch international renowned pelagic scientist Dr Ad Corten that the low recruitment of young herring was caused by 'cannibalism' of the older herring, which are still plentiful, eating the young ones, possibly in combination with climate change.