Harvest control rule adopted for Summer spawning herring, Tusk, and, Ling
The Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture has adopted harvest control rule for three important fish species: Summer spawning herring, Tusk, and Ling. This is important as the adoption of harvest control rule, or comparable methodology, is a prerequisite for IRF certification.
Fishing for these three species is in a validation assessment process, to the IRF Fisheries Management Standard. This should increase the likelihood that full certification will be granted for these fisheries in the near future.
The rule for Summer spawning herring is based on catching 15% of the reference stock biomass (biomass of 4+ years), Ichtyophonus infection in the stock is not taken into account at that time, and the range of action, as the catching quota will be reduced by 200,000 tonnes.
The new harvest control rule for the Summer spawning herring will yield 38,712 tonnes of catch quota in the next fishing year, but the old guideline would have given 40,100 tonnes.
The harvest control rule for Tusk is determined as 13% of the stock 40 cm and larger in the year of stock assessment. According to this rule, the TAC for the next fishing year (2017/2018) has been set at 4,370 tonnes, compared to 3,780 in the last fishing year. The stock is expected to remain unchanged in the coming years.
The harvest control rule for Ling is similar as the rule for Tusk, determined as 18% of the stock 75 cm and larger in the year of stock assessment. According to this rule, catch quotas have been set at 8,598 tonnes in the next fishing year, compared to 9,343 tonnes last year.
See further information on the species on the MRI's website: