Atlantic herring

Different herring fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean are 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.. A large part of the herring sold on Dutch markets are therefore MSC-certified.

Herring 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. and 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.  . These fishing techniques do not come in 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.

Fish in season 

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

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 to 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.

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.