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Atlantic herring

Quality mark Cultivation
/Keurmerk Wild
Green
Second choice
Avoid
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General

Herring-like fish

There are two families in the order Clupeiformes; the herring family (Clupidae) and the anchovy family (Engraulidae) and are relatively small, silver-coloured fish.  They swim in large, pelagic schools and feed on plankton. They are occasionally found near the shore, however they usually swim further out in the open sea at depths up to 200 m. Most species are capable of producing a lot of eggs each spawning event, up to 200.000 per adult female. A large share of the global wild catch consists of haring-like fish. Not everything is used for direct human consumption, a large share is processed as fish meal or fish oil that form the essential ingredient for fish feed in aquaculture. Haring-like fish swim in large schools which makes them susceptible to large scale (industrial) fishing.

 

 

 

 

Atlantic herring

The North Sea has four important herring stocks. Outside of the spawning season, these four stocks gather to forage for food, but return to their individual spawning grounds to reproduce. This species swims in large groups. Herring mainly feed on plankton, can reach lengths of 45 cm and have a maximum lifespan of 25 years.

 

Atlantic herring

Clupea harengus
Origin

Atlantic Ocean, north-east and north-west (FAO 21|27)

Farming- / Catch method

Midwater otter trawl, Purse seines

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Atlantic herring

Clupea harengus
Origin

Atlantic Ocean, north-east (FAO 27)
Deelgebieden: Skagerrak, Kattegat, Sound, Belt, Baltic Sea

Farming- / Catch method

Midwater otter trawl, Purse seines

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Fish stocks and fishing pressure
Ecosystem effects
Fishery management
Final assessment
Explanation assessment

The fishing pressureFishing pressure:
Fishing pressure is a result of the fishing effort/amount of fishing on a stock, which determines the fishing mortality. Fishing mortality is the share of the fish stock that dies annually as a result of fishing.
on Atlantic herring has strongly declined in the last years and is currently on the lowest level since 1990. However, the fishing pressure is still too high in some areas.

Herring is caught with pelagic-trawlspelagic trawl:
Pelagic trawls is a fishing technique whereby a funnel-shaped trawl is pulled through the water column. Because the trawl does not drag over the bottom, there is no bottom disturbance.
or purse seinesSeines:
A fishing technique to target schools of fish in the water column. The seine consists of a vertical standing net with a long line on each side. By making an outflanking movement, the fish is enclosed into the net.  
. Both methods have little bycatchBycatch:
Species caught next to species targeted for fishery. By-catches can consist of non-commercial species and species that are too small, and can be kept (this part is sometimes called by-product) or thrown back into the sea (discards). 
. Because there is no interaction between the fishing gear and the seabed, there is no negative fishery impact on the seabed or environment in sea.

The fishery is regulated with catch restrictions and technical measures like minimum mesh-sizeMesh size:
Feature of a trawl: the distance between two wires in a triangle-shaped mesh. The mesh-size determines the size of fish caught in the net. 
. The fishery management on herring is largely effective.

Fish in season 

Fish is in season when the spawning period has ended, as the quality is then at its best.

Atlantic herring

Clupea harengus
Origin

Atlantic Ocean, north-east (FAO 27)
Deelgebieden: Irish Sea,west of Ireland, Porcupine Bank, English Channel, Bristol Channel, Celtic Sea and south-west of Ireland

Farming- / Catch method

Midwater otter trawl, Bottom trawls

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Fish stocks and fishing pressure
Ecosystem effects
Fishery management
Final assessment
Explanation assessment

The herring stockStock:
The fish of a particular species reproducing in the same area in the same period. 
in the Irish Sea has been decreasing for the past years. The stock has decresed as such that the reproductive capacity is reduced significantly. This means, in short, that there are not enough individuals left to produce enough offspring to recover the stock.

Herring in the Irish Sea is caught using pelagic-trawlspelagic trawl:
Pelagic trawls is a fishing technique whereby a funnel-shaped trawl is pulled through the water column. Because the trawl does not drag over the bottom, there is no bottom disturbance.
. This fishing technique does not have any contact with the seabed which remains undisturbed. Also, bycatchBycatch:
Species caught next to species targeted for fishery. By-catches can consist of non-commercial species and species that are too small, and can be kept (this part is sometimes called by-product) or thrown back into the sea (discards). 
rates are low in these fisheries as herring swims in schools with almost no other fish species mixed.

De haring wordt in de Ierse Zee vooral gevangen met een pelagisch sleepnet. Bij gebruik van deze technieken is er weinig bijvangst. Aangezien er geen interactie is tussen het vistuig en de zeebodem is er geen sprake van een negatief visserijeffect op de zeebodem of op de leefomgeving in zee.

The fishery is regulated with catch restrictions and technical measures like minimum mesh-sizeMesh size:
Feature of a trawl: the distance between two wires in a triangle-shaped mesh. The mesh-size determines the size of fish caught in the net. 
. The fishery management on herring is largely effective.

This fishery was MSC-certifiedMSC Certified:
Fisheries that comply with the Marine Stewardship Council assessment criteria and are certified. Fish products with the blue MSC label are caught by sustainable fisheries.
up untill 2018 when the certificate was withdrawn.

ASC label

Fish with the ASC label is farmed in a sustainable manner.

MSC label

Fish with the MSC label is caught sustainably.

Good fish

This fish is not being overfished or is being responsibly farmed, with minimal impact on the environment.

Second choice

This fish is a second choice. There are still some improvements to be made in this fishery or fish farm.

Avoid

Do not buy this fish. It's being overfished or the way it's farmed or caught has a negative impact on the environment.

Welfare

There is fish available of this species that is farmed or caught using high welfare standards.

GlobalG.A.P.

GlobalG.A.P. certified farms are doing a step in the right direction in terms of sustainability. A few species with this label are getting a better score on the VISwijzer.

Organic

Organic standards are the strictest when it comes to fish feed. They also require certain measures for animal well-being.