Too high catches: Herring from the East Atlantic loses the MSC seal

The herring in the East Atlantic is threatened with overfishing. Several countries cannot agree on quotas. And so they get around a third more out of the water than recommended by experts. Now the fish loses its seal of approval. That could make marketing noticeably more difficult.

Herring, one of the most popular edible fish in Germany, is coming under increasing pressure to catch. For one of the main fishing areas in the East Atlantic, the MSC organization has now withdrawn its seal of approval from herring, announced MSC in Berlin. Around 777,000 tons of herring were caught in the area last year – a third more than the amount recommended by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), according to a statement. The stock is not yet overfished, but that is to be feared if it continues to be fished so intensively. For this year, the MSC is assuming that the recommended amount will again be exceeded by a third.

The countries bordering the north-east Atlantic – Norway, Iceland, the EU, Great Britain, Greenland and Russia – are currently negotiating the management of the fish stocks. So far, they have not been able to agree on quotas for the herring, so that each country took its own unquotaed quantities from the sea.

The withdrawal of the MSC seal for herring and blue whiting at the end of the year can have an impact on consumers. Many retailers such as Edeka, Aldi and Lidl pay attention to the seal in their product range and advertise that they mainly offer certified fish.

The non-profit organization MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) founded by the environmental organization WWF and the Dutch-British company Unilever is committed to sustainable fishing. Around 15 percent of the world's marine catches carry the MSC seal.

. (tagsToTranslate) economy (t) fish (t) sustainability