UK fisheries urgently need improvement

The Marine Conservation Society has released its biannual update to the Good Fish Guide, the charity’s one stop shop for sourcing ocean friendly seafood.  

 Seafood is rated Green (Best Choice), Amber (needs improvement) or Red (Fish to Avoid). The ratings consider how and where it was caught or farmed, painting a picture of the impact of our seafood. 

 With some UK species going straight onto the charity’s ‘Fish to Avoid’ list, it could not be clearer: UK governments must urgently deliver better management if sustainable fisheries are to be achieved.  

 Gareth Cunningham, Head of Fisheries and Aquaculture at the Marine Conservation Society said: “As a newly independent coastal state, and on a global stage in the run up to COP26, we have the opportunity to show real leadership and be the first nation in the world to set a course to deliver sustainable fisheries.  

“All UK Governments must ensure that fisheries management takes a holistic approach, recognising that the UK’s waters are changing due the impacts of climate change. Whilst some species may flourish in warming waters under the right management, others will not fare so well.” 

A total of 21 ratings on the charity’s Good Fish Guide worsened, including coley and prawns from the North Sea, trawled Arctic cod and haddock and pollack from the southwest.  

Some new species added to the guide went straight to the red list, including UK-caught squid, which currently has no management in place to help protect stocks. American lobster is also a Fish to Avoid, (unless MSC-certified) owing to poor management and concerns about bycatch of the critically endangered northern right whale. All cod populations in UK seas are at low levels, and most are declining further. All ratings for cod, one of the UK’s favourite fish to eat, either failed to improve, or got worse.  

Bycatch of seabirds, porpoise, and sharks in the southwestern UK, endangered golden redfish in the Arctic, and cod in the North Sea and Irish Sea, are all of major concern to the Marine Conservation Society. The accidental capture of various marine animals has affected the Good Fish Guide’s ratings for species including haddock and coley in the Arctic. 

Charlotte Coombes, Good Fish Guide Manager, said: “The latest ratings update for the Good Fish Guide really highlights the impact of poorly managed fisheries on the state of our seas, with so many new ratings going straight onto our Fish to Avoid list. However, there are glimmers of hope, with 20 ratings improving in the latest update, showing that where good management exists, we can recover our seas.”  

On the charity’s Guide, 20 ratings improved, including English Channel sprat and North Sea whiting. Farmed scallops in England join Scottish farmed scallops on the Best Choice list, thanks to their low environmental impact. Hand-dived scallops from Lyme Bay also make a new entry onto the charity’s Best Choice list.  

Gareth Cunningham: “There are clear opportunities to improve UK fisheries. Through adoption of fully documented fisheries and Fisheries Management Plans, UK seafood could be made sustainable for many years to come. Our ratings provide yet more evidence that the UK Governments must act now, or risk tipping the balance too far.” 

What does ‘good management’ look like? 

European Hake is now green rated on the charity’s Good Fish Guide, but in the early 2000s stocks of the fish were at an all-time low. With high catches and very little management, European hake was a red-rated Fish to Avoid.  

 Recognising this, catch limits and a Fishery Improvement Project were brought in. Not only have stocks now recovered, but hake fisheries have improved their environmental credentials by swapping bottom towed nets for static nets with ‘pingers’, to deter porpoises from the area, helping to reduce the risk of accidental bycatch. 

The charity calls for more data 

Without fully documented fisheries, it’s impossible to make informed recommendations on catch limits and wider management measures. The Marine Conservation Society has repeatedly called for the implementation of Remote Electronic Monitoring with cameras (REM), on all fishing vessels as set out in the Fisheries Act, 2020. Disappointingly, Westminster is yet to take action.  

REM would help in identifying high levels of bycatch, and ensure management is appropriate and effective. The charity is calling for Fisheries Management Plans to be put in place across the UK for all commercially caught species, with species on the red list, like cod, herring and squid, given urgent attention to help reverse their fortunes.  

Visit the Good Fish Guide website, www.goodfishguide.org to download the Guide.