Declining stocks and increased fishing pressure have led to lower sustainability ratings for two popular cod alternatives. UK shoppers have previously been urged to avoid UK-caught cod and to buy European hake or coley instead – but now these fish are in trouble, too.
MCS Downgrades Ratings
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), an environmental charity, publishes its Good Fish Guide to help consumers and businesses make sustainable seafood choices. It uses a traffic-light system to rate seafood according to the health of fish stocks and environmental impact.
On Wednesday, the MCS downgraded the ratings for European hake caught in the North Sea, Celtic Seas, or Bay of Biscay from green to amber owing to declining stocks and increased fishing pressure. Meanwhile, the rating on coley caught around the UK (North Sea, West of Scotland, Rockall, and Skagerrak) has fallen from amber to red – the worst rating – meaning it is a “fish to avoid.”
Of the 10 coley fisheries rated by the guide, two are still green while the other eight are amber.
Changing Status of Fish Stocks
Kerry Lyne, the Good Fish Guide manager, stated that the “status of fish stocks are continuously changing” and that a “fish that was a good choice a few years ago is not necessarily a good choice everywhere today.” Most of the seafood consumed in the UK is made up of just a few different species, known as the big five: cod, haddock, salmon, tuna, and prawns. This puts a lot of pressure on a handful of wild stocks.
