Cornish gill net hake and the MSC.

Latest assessment news from the MSC - and esdpecially relevanmt to Newlyn and other ports with vessels fishing for hake with gill nets off the south west - read on!

The certification body, Moody Marine Ltd., has announced that the Cornish hake gill net fishery has entered full assessment. Initially Moody Marine seeks to open a dialogue with all organisations or individuals with a direct interest in the fishery.

Anyone wishing to provide comments or information to the assessment process (relevant to the status of the stock, ecosystem interactions or fishery management practices) is invited to contact Jim Andrews.

Moody Marine Ltd., has also put forward nominations for the fishery assessment team that will be responsible for assessing the Cornish hake gill net fishery against the MSC Standard.

Any stakeholder wishing to provide comments on the suitability or otherwise of any of the nominees is invited to contact Jim Andrews no later than 5pm GMT, 4th May 2010.

Fishery location
North East Atlantic, FAO statistical area 27 in management areas ICES VIIe,VIIf, VIIg, VIIh, VIIj, VIIk.

Fishing method
Bottom set gill nets.

Fishery management
The fishery is under the ultimate jurisdiction of the EU via the CFP. Measures are implemented by DEFRA and associated subsidiary organisations via quota allocations and technical regulations. Technical regulations include mesh sizes, VMS, observers, and log book reporting requirements.

Commercial market
The main market is in Europe, particularly Spain, France & the UK. Fish are sold as fresh whole gutted, fillets and steaks into retail and food service.

Assessment timeline
The assessment process is expected to take 10 months and is scheduled for completion around February 2011. Please see the download section for a detailed assessment timeline.

The target eligibility date for this fishery is the 9th June 2010.

The MSC ecolabel can only be applied to product from certified fisheries. The MSC program does allow, in certain circumstances and within strict traceability requirements, the MSC ecolabel to be applied following certification to product caught before the actual date of certification. The target eligibility date therefore represents the date from which products may become eligible to carry the MSC ecolabel, however they cannot be sold until and if the fishery is certified. The actual eligibility date will be determined if the fishery is certified to the MSC standard.

To find out more about when fish from this fishery may be sold with the MSC ecolabel, please follow this link (http://www.msc.org/get-certified/supply-chain/eligibility-dates).

Tonnage of the fishery:

In 2009 the TAC was 28,879 tonnes.