Good Cod - Bad Cod: New fish sustainability ratings released
North Sea cod has been removed from the Marine Conservation Society’s 'fish to avoid' list, but many cod stocks remain dangerously depleated. The latest ratings show that wild-caught seabass should still be completely avoided and overall a greater number of stocks have been down-graded than improved.
Today's ratings are an encouraging sign that North Sea cod stocks are in recovery after decades of near-collapse, but heralded bad news for cod from many other areas of the North Atlantic, including the West of Scotland and Irish Sea, which remain or have been down-graded to 'Fish to avoid'.
The latest top tips for buying fish:
- A marginal recovery in one cod stock does not mean all cod is back on the menu. Always check your source against the Fishonline app, ask for the Marine Stewardship Council ecolabel, and if in doubt, don’t order it.
- Make sure that oysters are farmed or cultivated by rope-suspension. Wild populations are in trouble and dredgers destructive.
- All grey mullet from the UK should be avoided
- Lemon sole and plaice from the English channel are now considered OK to eat occasionally
The Marine Conservation Society update their Good Fish Guide every six months, providing fish-buyers with red, amber and green ratings for fish to eat and avoid. Unfortunately, red-rated species are commonplace on menus in the UK, despite serious concerns over their population and/or the destructive fishing or farming methods used. The Sustainable Fish Cities campaign is working to see only demonstrably sustainable fish on menus in the UK. The campaign is active in 15 towns and cities in the UK and caterers serving well over 500 million meals per year have now committed to serve only species that are green or amber-rated, or Marine Stewardship Council Certified, by taking the Sustainable Fish Cities pledge.
Published Friday 25 September 2015
Sustainable Fish: A campaign to protect precious marine environments and fishing livelihoods, and call for fish to be bought from sustainable sources. We want to show what can be done if people and organisations make a concerted effort to change their buying habits.
