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Vol. 1984/0 237 
  
 
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COM M ISSION O F  TH E  EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(84) 629 f in a l 
B ru s s e ls , 15 November 1984
REPORT. FROM.THE COMMISSION.TO.THE COUNCIL
on the s itu a tio n  o f the h e rrin g  market 
(P art 2)
COM(84) 629 f in a l

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
During its session of 10 September 1984, the Council requested the 
Commission to draw up the second part of the report evaluating the market 
situation of herring in the Community.
Having collected within the Member States the necessary 
information, the Commission has drawn up this report which is now 
submitted to the Council.
It deals with the following matters :
a) the evaluation of the available resources
b) the quality requirements of the processing industry.

REPORT
on
the situation of the herring market
(Part 2)
On 18 May 1984 the Commission placed before the Council the first part of its 
report containing a factual analysis of the herring market in the Community.
In the light of the general ideas which emerged during the Council Working 
Group's discussion, this document is intended to supplement the Commission's 
original analysis by examining the evaluation of the available resources as the 
quality requirements of the processing industry.

-  2 -
I'  Evaluation of quantities of herring likely to be available in the four years 
to come
It is extremely difficult to make reliable forecasts of availabilities of 
herring because the forecasts depend on efficient stock management and levels of 
regeneration, which goes to explain why no definitive scientific opinion has 
been proposed in this respect. Nevertheless, subject to the uncertainty factor 
inherent in this type of forecasting, three hypotheses can be advanced :
a) "worst''_hy£othesis :
This consists in assuming that to the West of Jutland and the North of the 
Skagerak/Kattegat the authorized percentage of by-catches accounted for by 
young herring is amply exceeded; the regeneration of the North Sea stock can 
be expected to decline considerably over a period of two or three years, 
damaging at the same time certain stocks in the Skagerak/Kattegat.
b) "best" hypothesis :
Confirmation of this hypothesis requires that the management of the aforesaid 
stocks be the most efficient possible and that regeneration levels rise 
steeply; under this hypothesis, the quantities available in the North Sea (IV 
and Vlld) would be around 500 000 tonnes as from 1986.
c) intermediate hypothesis :
£s illustrated in Table 1, this hypothesis implies the satisfactory 
management of stocks and a steady level of regeneration; based on this 
assumption, the herring supply would double over the next four years (from 
285 000 tonnes in 1984 to 675 000 tonnes in 1988 for Via north and Via south, 
IV and Vlld, Ilia and Illb, c, d).
A s for the immediate future, available herring resources in the Community 
fishing zones could reach 386 000 tonnes in 1985, i.e. an increase of 101 000 
tonnes (or 35 %) over 1984.
From 1986 onwards, the expected increase from one year to the next would be 
around 100 000 tonnes but at this stage the figures must be treated with 
particular caution in that catches will depend largel y on the recruitment of 
fish which have not yet been spawned.
The possible market repercussions of the increase in the North Sea stocks will 
make this zone the focus of particular attention. In the same connection it is 
impossible to ignore the increasing importance of herring stocks situated in Va 
and H a .  although no long-term forecasts have been made for the stocks, 
enormous quantities of herring may shortly be available for the Norwegian and 
Icelandic fleets.
On the basis of the foregoing hypotheses the available herring resources in the 
years to come would make it possible for catches to reach levels high enough to 
satisfy Community requirements in quantitative terms. Since this increase would 
mainly result from the rise in North Sea catches, the correspondence between 
available resources and the quantitative requirements of the Community market 
should be examined.

- 3 -
II.  Quality requirements of the processing industry within the EEC
1. Quality requirements of the_processing_industry
The first part of the report underlined the importance of the processing 
industry as an outlet for the herring market (1). The quality standards 
required by the industry vary according to the destination of the product. 
However, since eating habits vary from one Member State to another and some 
of the biological characteristics of herring fluctuate regularly (see point 2 
below), these standards must be regarded as relative in nature.
In this connection, table 2 outlines the requirements of the Community 
processing industry as they emerge from the survey carried out by the 
Commission departments.
Generally speaking, where products such as canned fish, maatjes and smoked 
and salt herring are concerned, the processing sector uses large herring with 
a high fat content.
By contrast, the manufacture of some marinated products requires smaller 
herring with firm white flesh and a lower fat content. More precisely, since 
in some cases the product is presented in a transparent jar of limited 
capacity, the herring used must be of irreproachable quality, visually 
attractive to the consumer and of size 2 or 3. Furthermore, herring with an 
excessively high fat content cannot be used lest the marinade become cloudy.
The quality of the product, in particular its consistency, also depends on 
how the herring has been handled on board ship (protection against sunlight, 
wetting and fast chilling, careful handling:) and on the freshness of the 
product; fish which has been properly preserved retains its qualities of 
freshness when it has been handled appropriately.
In this connection, the practice in several Member States consists in placing 
the herring immediately after capture in tanks of iced water, which, 
according to the specialists, rules out any danger of it going rancid (see 
table 3).
2. Biological characteristics of herring
The main biological characteristics of herring are its fat content, size, 
colour and consistency.
2.1. Fat content
2.1.1. General characteristics
Fat content is the most difficult characteristic to measure since it 
varies greatly according to size, age, season, year, quality of 
food, migration zone and presentation of the fish. However, not­
withstanding this fact, it is generally agreed that :
- the fat content diminishes considerably after the spawning season, 
which itself varies according to the stock and its habitat.
(1) Report on the state of the herring market, lib.

- 4 -
- a certain correlation exists firstly between fat content and size 
(particularly in the case of young herring) and secondly between fat 
content and age (herring which has not reached recruitment age 
contains less fat than adult herring)
- differences in fat content of 3 to 4 % from one year to the next 
for the same stocks are not unusual. Thus the fat content of whole 
herring fluctuates in overall terms betwenn 4 % and 25 %.
In addition, the fat content is not distributed evenly throughout 
the fish so that a herring presented in fillets or flaps will 
contain less fat than a whole herring.
Annex 4 illustrates the fat content of herring by age and size.
2.1.2 Characteristics linked to the stock as to the fishing area
- North Sea and Skagerak/Kattegat herring
The fat content of North Sea and Skagerak/Kattegat herring is 
considered to be almost identical. This herring reaches recruitment 
age after a period of between 3 and 5 years. Its fat content varies 
throughout the year roughly as follows :
Fishing groundPeriod of the year
1.1 - 31.3 1.4 - 31.5 1.6 - 31.7 1.8 - 31.12
North Sea
Skagerak
Kattegat10 - 15 % 4 - 10 % 18 - 25 % 12 - 20 %
Source :  Danish herring-processing industry
- Baltic herring
Owing to the poorer quality of food and the lower temperature of the 
water, Baltic herring of recruitment age (after 2 to 2 1/2 years) 
has an average fat content which is 3 % to 4 % less than that of 
North Sea and Skagerak/Kattegat herring. Its flesh is therefore 
slightly firmer.
2.2. Size
Baltic and Skagerak/Kattegat herring is generally smaller than North Sea 
herring (*).
In their present structure the North Sea stocks contain higher quantities 
of herring of size 1 than of sizes 2 and 3.
However, in the opinion of several scientific bodies, the regeneration of 
stocks has led to a significant increase in the availability of small 
herring in the North Sea.
(*)The Skagerak/Kattegat herring stocks are composed of local populations, of 
Baltic "Rügen" herring but also of young North Sea herring. When the latter 
reach adulthood they migrate back towards the North Sea.

- 5 -
2.3. Colour
In the vast majority of cases the flesh of the herring is white. However, 
some stocks may contain herring with dark flesh, particularly in the Irish 
Sea. In the opinion of the Irish processing industry, such herring has a 
very low fat content and is not used by the processing industry. According 
to information supplied to Commission staff, it would appear that certain 
processing operations serve to bleach the flesh of herring.
2.4. Consistency
According to information supplied by certain processors, Baltic herring has 
a more delicate consistency than North Sea herring. However, this view has 
not been confirmed by scientific circles.
2.5. Freshness
The freshness of herring does not constitute one of its biological 
characteristics; it is the result of various factors such as the remoteness 
of fishing grounds (and therefore the structure of the fleet) but even more 
so of the way in which the fish is handled and preserved on board ship.
It should be noted that since herring is a relatively fragile fish it must 
be processed rapidly if it is to be presented fresh.
3. Conclusions
All together, the foregoing considerations prompt a number of observati ons
a) For all of the herring preparations, with exception of marinated
products :  *
herring caught in all the Community fishing grounds appears suitable 
for almost all presentations referred to in table 2.
b) As regards marinated products :
- certain specific presentations require very small fish with low fat 
content; the Baltic herring seems to be the more suitable in these 
limited cases;
- for all the other preparations of marinated products, the 
Skagerak/Kattegat herring is much used; now the biological 
characteristics of this herring, described above, suggested that it 
can be at least partly replaced by North Sea herring.
This latter indeed, provided that the various stocks of the zone are 
fished in phase with their spawning seasons, possesses the qualities as 
regards fat content and size required by the processing sector 
throughout the major part of the year (July to February). It should be 
borne in mind that marinated products are manufactured in the Federal 
Republic of Germany during the period from August to February.
Lastly, the survey has shown that in the vast majority of cases the 
industry's requirements are determined not only by the quality of the product 
but also by the cost of available supplies.

Table 1
ESTIMATED AVAILABLE QUANTITIES OF HEKRIMG  
(EEC-share - in tonnes)
BVTEltMEDIATE HYPOTHESIS
n w
.^•'■ixsfaing
zone1981 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
1. West Scotland  
Via north  
Via South« b sc45 262 
26 13570 500 41 000 50 000 60 000 70 000
2» Korth Sea  
IV and Vlld 46 0S1 155 0O0 275 000 350 000 425 000 500 000
3· Skagerak and  
Kattegat Ilia 36 921 24 700 35 000 50 000 60 000 70 000
|  4. Baltic
Illb, C, d 37 271 34 900 35 000 35 000 35 000 35 000
|  TOTAL 191 670 285 100 386 000 485 000 | 580 000 675 000

Table 2
HERRING REQUIREMENTS OF COMMUNITY INDUSTRY
Products Preserves Marinated 
products (2)Maatjes NL Smoked
herringSalted 
herring |
Qualities
required
.  freshnesswhole fish, 
fillets,  
flaps,fresh 
or frozenfresh fish (3) 
whole or in 
flapsFresh or as 
salted filletsFresh or 
frozenfresh or 
frozen
•  size mainly 1-2 2-3 1 - 2 1 1  - 2
.  fat content 
(4) 10% - 20% 8 - 16% 18% - 25%12 % mini­
mum to 18 %minimum 15 %
.  consistency 
and other 
qualities firm (1) firm white 
flesh (2)firm - -
,  EEC zones 
(4)all Preference 
for Skagerak- 
Kattegat and 
Baltic (3)all
except
Baltic»11 »11
(1) Preference of German industry for herring frozen on board ship as claimed to be firmer 
in consistency
(2) In the case of marinated products marketed in a jar, the size and colour of the produc; 
are visible to the purchaser
(3) In the UK frozen fish is also used (West of Scotland and North Sea)
(4) Seasonal variations in fat content to be considered for each zone

Table 3
Freshness
Tank of chilled water
Source :  Fiskeriministeriets Forslægslaboratorium

Table 4
Fat content (%) of herring by age and length (North Sea)
Young herring Adult herring
14 cm 19 cm Winter/spring  
spawningseasonAutumn
spawningseasoi
January 4.2 8.5 9.1 15.0
February 3.5 4.6 5.4 (12)
March 2.1 2.8 3.1 (8)
April 1.8 5.4 3.0 (7)
May - (11) 7.6 11.8
June 10.8 (17) 18.9 20.8
July 12.1 (22) 23.7 21.5
August - 23.0 22.0 18.2
September 7.2 19.6 19.5 14.0
October 6.8 17.0 18.4 18.0
November 6.4 15.0 14.9 18.8
December - 11.5 12.0 17.1
Source : Danmarks Fiskeri- og Havundersøgelse