2023-08-17 09:40:08
Anyone who ever buys a fish in the supermarket is probably familiar with the blue and white MSC quality mark for sustainably caught fish. However, fewer and fewer fish caught by Dutch fisheries still receive this quality mark. This is due to the ‘fish war’ that is raging between countries.
Only 53 percent of the fish is MSC certified, compared to 80 percent in 2019. Cornelis Vrolijk, one of the largest fishing companies in the Netherlands, recognizes the ‘significant decrease’ in their catch. Only 35 percent of their fish still receives the sustainability stamp. “We regret that, especially because we have little influence on it ourselves,” says a spokesperson.
Mackerel and herring war
This sounds like a farmer saying that he can’t help it that his meat is not organic, but fishermen can indeed do little regarding the decrease. The MSC contraction is mainly due to disagreements between the EU, the United Kingdom, Norway, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. In other wars these countries would be allies, but in terms of fish there has been a ‘mackerel war’ between them for years and recently a ‘herring war’.
That’s right. The European seas are large and full of fish. Biologists give advice on how much can be fished responsibly. Countries then make agreements with each other regarding how to divide that pie. But the sea is changing. Due to climate change, mackerel and, to a lesser extent, herring are slowly moving north, meaning that less of this fish ends up in European and more in northern waters. Norway therefore believes that it has a right to more mackerel and herring than laid down in old quotas, while European countries are sticking to their historical agreements.
Caught more than allowed
Countries cannot find a solution, with the result that they use their own quotas. The total catch exceeds the advice. For example, biologists thought it was responsible for 2022 to catch 794 thousand tons of mackerel, but the total quotas of countries amounted to 1.13 million tons. Until good agreements are made, mackerel will not receive an MSC label. The quality mark has now also been suspended for some herring and blue whiting stocks. According to Cornelis Vrolijk, especially Norway and the Faroe Islands are the culprit. For three years these countries have been catching 55 percent more than their historical allowable share, a higher percentage than might be explained by climate change.
Mackerel has not had a quality mark in Dutch supermarkets for several years. Herring usually still does, because here it mainly comes from the North Sea, an area that has been agreed upon. Dutch fishermen also catch a lot of herring around Scandinavia, which is then sold in Germany; it has recently lost its MSC label.
Non-approved does not mean less durable
Is all that untested fish really much less sustainable? That’s okay for now. We have been ‘lucky’ with the mackerel in recent years, says Niels Hintzen, scientific researcher at the European fisheries association PFA. “A lot of mackerel were born.” To keep the mackerel stock healthy, there must be 2.6 million tons of mackerel in the sea, that number is now at 4 million. Although mackerel is not overfished is, has been ‘overfished’ in recent years, according to Hintzen. Fishermen catch more than the advice, which puts the mackerel at risk in the long term, especially if it had a few worse years.
With the suspension, MSC is using its label not only to inform consumers regarding sustainable fish, but also as a means of political pressure on the deadlocked negotiations. Because without an MSC label, fish is in some cases worth less. Experts are divided on that tactic. Fish researcher Jurgen Batsleer of Wageningen Marine Research believes that MSC is ‘going beyond its limits’ and that mackerel should simply be given the quality mark. The fish species is thriving and is not under serious pressure. “The lack of MSC affects companies, while they have little influence on the negotiations.” Wageningen colleague Geert Hoekstra also believes that “the fish sector should not become the victim of political disagreement.” At the same time, he finds it ‘strong’ that MSC sticks to its principles to guarantee sustainable catches in the long term.
It is not entirely clear how much it actually matters to supermarket customers whether fish has an MSC quality mark (when caught) or ASC quality mark (when farmed). According to research commissioned by MSC itself, a third of Dutch fish consumers want to buy more sustainable fish, and almost two thirds of the consumers surveyed recognize the MSC logo. At the same time, supermarkets now also sell mackerel without a label, and Albert Heijn sees ‘not really a drop in sales’.
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