Even this year, it will be difficult for surströmming enthusiasts to get their hands on the fish.
One of Sweden's food giants, Axfood, is stopping sales with reference to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Ica and Coop are choosing to sell - but are warning of shortages.
There are still a few weeks left until the surströmming premiere in mid-August, and even this year, it seems there will be a shortage of the fermented fish.
In Axfood's store shelves - including Willys and Hemköp - it will be completely empty as they have announced that they will remove surströmming from their range before this year's premiere.
Red light
Axfood's decision is based on WWF's recommendation, where herring/strömming from the Baltic Sea gets a red light, announced in a press release. This means that WWF has assessed the species as endangered and should be completely avoided.
"It is the industrial and large-scale trawling of herring/strömming for feed production that should not be allowed, as it leads to overfishing and thus destroys the opportunities for coastal and small-scale net fishing for consumption, such as surströmming," says Åsa Domeij, Axfood's sustainability manager, in the press release.
Limited availability
Ica Group is making a different interpretation. Normally, the retail chain no longer sells herring/strömming from the Baltic Sea, as they only sell fish that is green or yellow in WWF's fish guide. But for surströmming, they are making an exception and selling it this year as well.
Ica refers to WWF's statement that it is not the consumption of the fish that is behind the red light, but the large-scale trawling used as raw material for feed.
Even at Coop, the fish will be available. In an email to TT, the daily goods chain writes that they will sell surströmming, but that availability is limited.
