Crown Prince Seafood Announces MSC Certified Sustainable Kipper Snacks

Crown Prince, Inc. is proud to have transitioned to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified herring for our Crown Prince Natural Kipper Snacks and Kipper Snacks with Cracked Black Pepper. Our herring are wild caught in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off the West coast of the Canadian province of Newfoundland. The area is managed by the Canadian federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) with the specific area of operation located between Cape Bauld and Cape Ray.

Crown Prince Natural Kipper Snacks are MSC Certified Sustainable and Non-GMO Project Verified.

Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) belong to the family Clupeidae. The Clupeidae family consists of 216 species that are global in distribution. Herring, shads, sardines, and menhadens are all members of the Clupeidae family; as a group they are considered one of the most important families of commercial fish, processed for food, oil and fish meal.

Atlantic herring in this region is comprised of two distinct stock components: spring and fall spawners. The herring purse seine fishery operates April through December, depending on weather and sea ice conditions. Recent Total Allowable Catches (TAC) set by the DFO for herring in this region are 20,000 tonnes; the MSC certified purse seine fleet component is about 11,000 tonnes.

Management measures in place include a detailed monitoring and surveillance system, closed area and season restrictions, minimum landing sizes and avoidance of non-target species with applied echo sounding technology. Atlantic herring are primarily exported as cured, frozen, fresh, smoked, roe, sardines and canned. Products from this fishery are predominantly sold to the United States, Western Europe and Japan.

Purse Seine Net used for catching fish

The fishery is comprised of large and small herring purse seiners. Large and small seiners are defined as those greater than 65 feet and those smaller than 65 feet respectively. The purse seine is a large rectangular net that is designed to encircle herring. The seine is set by a small boat, known as a skiff, deployed by the fishing vessel. As the net is released from the stern of the vessel, the skiff controls the free end of the net until the larger seiner completely encircles the fish. Once the skiff has the net set and returns to the seiner, the seine top and bottom lines are handed to the seiner, which uses a winch to pull both ends of the purse line, closing off the bottom of the seine net like a purse, preventing the herring from escaping.

To “kipper” a fish is to rub it with salt and spices before drying it in the open air or in smoke.  This method of preservation has been used from time immemorial, first as a means to quickly preserve an abundance of fish, more recently as preferred cooking method of a variety of fish, game and poultry. Crown Prince Natural Kipper Snacks are smoked over hardwood chips and are an excellent source of protein with 1.34 mg of Omega-3 fatty acids per serving. Crown Prince Natural Kipper Snacks and Kipper Snacks with Cracked Black Pepper are both Non-GMO Project verified.