Pelagic Fisheries
The end of the year is in sight, and that means that the freezer trawler vessels of PFA members start the last fishing trips of this year.
Normally these vessels fish – depending on the target species that period – divided throughout European waters during the year, but in the November and December months many vessels move out to the same area and sometimes even to the same spot. In the coming weeks, we will take you through our fact-based story of what our fisheries look like, and how we contribute in a sustainable and responsible way to food security.
PFA members want to provide the best quality of fish. Especially because the vast majority of this fish ends up in places where it makes a huge contribution to food security as the healthiest and most affordable form of daily healthy protein. But pelagic fish are seasonally abundant in specific areas. This also means that the quality of some pelagic fish species is much better at certain times and in specific areas.
That is why a lot of PFA members’ vessels will be fishing in the English Channel in the coming weeks: it is currently the best season to fish the Channel herring – part of the MSC-certified North Sea herring stock.
PFA president Tim Heddema stresses the importance of Channel fisheries in contributing to food security:
“Pelagic species are known to migrate through the water column in huge numbers. Pelagic fish shoals consist of plenty of fish; sometimes as big as the island of Malta. Only a small part of the total herring biomass is fished as PFA vessels adhere to the available quota.
In pelagic fishing, it is an economic necessity to apply economies of scale due to the very large volumes involved and tough international competition in the seafood market, but this has a great positive impact on global food security. As a result, the price of pelagic fish is very low and affordable.
Our efficient and highly selective way of fishing makes this possible. We are proud of our sustainable operations and are always available to explain to the public in more detail.”
Date Posted: 28th November 2024