MCS has updated its online Good Fish Guide with some exciting new additions to its green rated ‘Best Choice’ list.
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| MSC Certified Cornish hake is recommended as an alternative to cod. |
By choosing from a wider range, we’ll be putting far less stress on individual fisheries
Megrim from Rockall, Northern North Sea and West of Scotland; North Sea line and trap-caught or UK farmed turbot; line-caught pollack from the Celtic Sea; lemon sole, seine netted from the North Sea and eastern English Channel and queen scallop, traditionally caught in the Fal Estuary in Cornwall, are all now on the Good Fish Guide green-rated Best Choice List.
Getting onto that list is good news for any fishery because it identifies fish from these fisheries as the best choices a consumer or buyer can make to increase the sustainability of their purchases.
As the UK prepares to leave the EU and fisheries talks get underway to try to secure us a bigger share of the fish post Brexit, MCS says now is the time to swap the traditional UK top five favourite fish for new choices.
“We’re suggesting that dab, hake, herring, mussels and mackerel become the new cod, haddock, salmon, prawns and tuna. By choosing from a wider range we’ll be putting far less stress on individual fisheries,” says Bernadette Clarke, MCS Good Fish Guide Programme Manager, who suggests a post-Brexit UK Top 10 which includes great tasting fish that aren’t a household name - yet.
The MCS, post Brexit, Best Choice Top 10
- Dab, seine netted in the North Sea
- Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Certified hake from Cornwall
- MSC certified herring from Irish, Celtic and North Seas, SW Ireland and Eastern English Channel
- Mackerel, handlined in the southwest of England, and MINSA (Mackerel Industry Northern Sustainability Alliance) North East Atlantic MSC certified
- Megrim from the Northern North Sea and West of Scotland
- UK rope-grown mussels
- Brown crab from Devon Inshore Potting Area, Western Channel
- Queen scallops from the Fal Estuary, fished by traditional sail and oar method
- Pollack handlined from the Celtic sea
- Sole, Dover from the Western Channel
MCS says that there are some very good reasons for going local aside from complicated economics: lower food miles and carbon footprint; fresh fish can be tastier and better quality; good for the local economy; more choices; better traceability so you get what you pay for.
“We are currently exporting around 75% of fish caught and landed in the UK, but we’re the ninth largest importer of fish in the world with around 70% of the seafood value entering the UK fish supply chain coming from overseas. By choosing more sustainable sources and keeping it local it will help reduce wasting wild caught fish that are discarded dead because they have less value,” says Bernadette Clarke.
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| Sardines are in! |
At the other end of the scale is the red rated, Fish to Avoid list. Fisheries moving onto the red list include ones for red mullet, nursehound, cuckoo, spotted and roker ray species, wild seabass from Biscay and Atlantic bigeye.
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| Stunning looking undulate ray |
Improving and off the red list are undulate ray from the English Channel; albacore from the Mediterranean and bigeye from western central Pacific Ocean. Non-movers on the red list are wild seabass; skate; shark; spurdog and wild Atlantic salmon.
“For many years MCS has been advocating consumers diversify the types of fish they eat and so relieve demand for traditional or more popular species such as cod and haddock. Although the health benefits of eating fish is well recognised and Government advice from the Food Standards Agency has been to eat at least two portions of fish a week, including a portion of oily fish, the Agency also recognises since 2010, the importance of eating a wide variety of fish and fish from sustainable sources,” said Bernadette Clarke.
Clara Govier, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery says: “It is great to see consumers using their power by making the right choices on which seafood to eat. However you access it, the Good Fish Guide gives instant advice on what to eat and how to cook it, whether you’re shopping for the family in the supermarket or looking for a place to eat out. I’m delighted that players of People’s Postcode Lottery are able to support this initiative.”
The MCS Good Fish Guide Fish is available here, as an app on iPhone or android, and paper credit card sized version – the Pocket Good Fish Guide.