Problems with MSC-Ceritification of Western Baltic Herring Rainer Froese & Silvia Opitz Acoura Stakeholder Meeting, 21 September 2017, Hamburg, Germany

Basis: ICES Assessment of 31 May 2017

Evidence for Bad Mangement (1) The stock has been massively overfished from 1992 to 2009, despite the resulting drastic decline in biomass and recruitment (see Slide 2)

Evidence for Bad Mangement (2) Despite the stock being outside of safe biological limits since 2008 and recruitment being impaired (see above), fishing pressure was not reduced well below Fmsy, to ensure a quick recovery. Instead, F in 2016 is 25% above Fmsy.

Evidence for Bad Mangement (3) While the stock was obviously in trouble with decreased productivity and in need of reduced fishing pressure, Fmsy was increased from 0.25 to 0.28 in 2015 and 0.32 in 2016. F= 0.32 is obiously set too high, because the stock does not recover with F near this value in 2010-2015

Evidence for Bad Mangement (3 cont.) (Table 8, p. 9)

Evidence for Bad Mangement (4) The border of safe biological limits (Bpa, i.e. < 5% probability of reduced recruitment) is obviously set too low, because decline in recruitment happens from 2000 to 2006, when SSB was above Bpa.

Evidence for Bad Mangement (5) Given the low stock size and recruitment in 2007 to current, adaptive management would have set F well below Fmsy to allow fast recovery. Instead, in 8 of 10 years, F remained above (the too high) Fmsy = 0.32 and increased to F = 0.41 in 2016.

Evidence for Bad Mangement (6) (Table 8, p. 9) TAC exceeded scientific advice in 2012-2014 Despite the depleted stock size, catches were increased from 30,000 to 51,048 T From 2011-2016, TAC exceeded what fishers were able to take

Has this evidence of bad management been considered in the assessment?

Herring Trophic Flows to (green) and away from (brown) Herring Stock 5 Western Baltic Sea Food Web (NM) Trophic Flows to (green) and away from (brown) Herring Stock (Fishery „consumed“ the entire annual production of the herring stock) = Import of food from adjacent ecosystems = Immigration from adjacent ecosystems 5 Harbour porpoise Fishery Seals Adult cod 4 Juvenile cod (Sea-) birds Other demersal fish Flounder Herring Other pelagic fish Sprat 3 Dab Pelagic macrofauna Plaice/Turbot & Brill Zooplankton 2 Benthic meiofauna Bacteria/Microorganisms Die Fischerei „konsumiert“ die gesamte Jahresproduktion des Herringsbestandes Benthic macrofauna Benthic producers Trophic Level Phytoplankton Detritus/DOM Opitz, unpublished, July 2015

Sprat Trophic Flows to (green) and away from (brown) Sprat Stock 5 Western Baltic Sea Food Web (NM) Trophic Flows to (green) and away from (brown) Sprat Stock (Part of systemic predation pressure is shifted from herring stock to sprat stock) = Import of food from adjacent ecosystems = Immigration from adjacent ecosystems 5 Harbour porpoise Fishery Seals Adult cod 4 Juvenile cod (Sea-) birds Other demersal fish Sprat Other pelagic fish Herring Flounder 3 Dab Plaice/Turbot & Brill Pelagic macrofauna Zooplankton 2 Benthic meiofauna Bacteria/Microorganisms partielle Verschiebung des systemischen Fraßdruckes vom Herrings- auf den Spratnbestand – not translated Benthic macrofauna Benthic producers Trophic Level Phytoplankton Detritus/DOM Opitz, unpublished, July 2015

More Evidence for Bad Management from Ecosystem-Considerations Herring is a key-stone species which transports energy from the millimeter-level of zooplankton (which is inaccessible to most predators) to the decimeter-level which is a staple food of nearly all upper trophic level species Good ecosystem-based management (and MSC criteria) foresee that such species are fished at half of Fmsy Instead, the western Baltic herring was fished far above Fmsy, even when the stock declined below safe biological limits, thus depriving the upper trophic levels (birds, seals, harbor porpoise, cod, salmon, ..) of an essential food source

Conclusion Because of ongoing overfishing, stocks size outside of safe biological limits, impaired recruitment, bycatch problems, ecosystem considerations, and longterm and ongoing bad management, the western Baltic cod does not fulfill the requirements for MSC certification.