ICELAND
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Iceland’s lumpfish fishery has been MSC certified as a sustainable and well-managed fishery. The 330 small boats are the first MSC certified lumpfish fishery in the world.
Lumpfish has been harvested for centuries inside the Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone. Male and female lumpfish are easily distinguished both in colour and size, where females are larger. The big mesh size gillnets fishery mainly targets the females for their roe, which is exported as a luxury caviar mainly to European countries. There is also a growing Chinese market for the female fish while male lumpfish is less frequently caught, mostly for traditional local consumption.
The lumpfish distributed between Iceland and Norway is one of three genetically distinct stocks of lumpfish in the North Atlantic. Although some other lumpfish stocks have faced challenges, the Icelandic lumpfish fisheries have been relatively stable since 1990.
The lumpfish fishery is controlled by various measures that include restrictions regarding the number of licenses and nets, a fishing season of three months only as well as limitations on vessel and mesh sizes.
Icelandic waters contain a wide range of delicate ecosystems, mostly in deep water. The static bottom-set gillnets used in the lumpfish fishery have minimal contact with these ecosystems as the fishery mainly takes place on a rocky sea bed in shallow waters.
The fishery’s main bycatch is the MSC certified cod (Gadus morhua), representing around five per cent of the total catch. All bycatches are landed as discarding is prohibited in Iceland.