Guide to buying sustainable fish
Our seafood guide helps you choose sustainable fish
Fish to choose...
Scallops (hand-collected by divers)
Scallops are an expensive yet delicious shellfish with a delicate taste that are very quick to cook and can be steamed, fried or grilled. Always try and buy dive-caught scallops, as this is a much more selective method of capture and causes minimal damage to the seabed compared with scallop dredging. Diving is restricted to 30 metres and below, which creates a natural haven for the wild population to continue growing. Dive-caught scallops are now becoming much more widely available from supermarkets and restaurants.
Try the scallops with cep compote & chestnuts recipe on BBC Good Food
Black bream
Black bream is a relatively cheap white fish that has sweet, firm flesh and is delicious when eaten whole. If possible choose line-caught fish, and avoid any black bream that is under 23cm, as this means it has not yet reached maturity. If you can, steer clear of them completely from April to May, as this is their breeding season in UK inshore waters.
Try the fish with spiced lentils recipe on BBC Good Food
Sea bass (tagged from Cornwall)
Sea bass is a fairly expensive fish that has firm white flesh and similar flavour to salmon. Tagged, line-caught seabass is a more sustainable choice than fish caught by either trawl or fixed nets as it means there is little or no by-catch. Try to choose sea bass that has been sustainably caught in the south west of England. The fish also has a tag in its gill, so you have complete ‘hook to plate’ traceability.
Try the baked sea bass with lemongrass & ginger recipe on BBC Good Food
Mussels (rope-grown)
Mussels are a cheap and distinctive tasting shellfish, which can be roasted, baked or boiled. They are widely cultivated and stocks are generally considered to be under-exploited. The main methods of harvesting wild and farmed mussels are by dredging and hand-gathering. If possible choose mussels that have been sustainably harvested (hand-gathered) in the wild or farmed.
Try the creamy fish & mussel soup recipe on BBC Good Food
Coley
Coley is from the same family as cod and haddock and although it’s less flavoursome than it’s more famous cousins it is great for turning into fishcakes or fish mousse. The Northeast Arctic stock and the North Sea stock are currently considered healthy and above the minimum level recommended by ICES and harvested sustainably. Avoid eating immature coley that are less than 50-60cm and during breeding time from January to March.
Try the fish pie recipe on BBC Good Food
Fish to avoid…
Common skate
Skates are characterised by slow growth and low reproductive rates, which makes them highly vulnerable to exploitation. This is a particular problem for the larger skate species, especially the long nosed skates such as the common skate. Management of skate and ray fisheries are inadequate in the Marine Conservation Society’s opinion because no distinction is made between species, which are usually landed and reported in mixed categories such as “skates and rays”.
Orange roughy
Orange roughy is a very long-living fish that may last up to 125 years and it’s particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Commercial fisheries exist in the North East Atlantic and in waters around New Zealand where trawlers target fish as they come together to spawn.
Dogfish
Because of their biological characteristics dogfish are vulnerable to over-exploitation as are most shark species. Dogfish are long-lived and slow-growing, which makes them particularly vulnerable to high levels of fishing mortality.
Swordfish
Swordfish is vulnerable to over-exploitation because they mature late and take a long time to reach past population numbers in comparison to other commercially exploited species. Most stocks are overexploited. They are also a big predator, so play an important role in ecosystems. North Atlantic stock is assessed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Northern bluefin tuna
All seven commercially fished species of tuna are under fishing pressure and four are listed by IUCN. Northern bluefin is assessed as endangered in the East Atlantic and critically endangered in the West Atlantic. Northern bluefin tuna is slow-growing and long-lived, making it vulnerable to overfishing.
Fishing on Atlantic stocks is currently unsustainable and stocks are below safe levels. Fishing on Mediterranean stocks is also unsustainable - recent scientific reports indicate the species may be on the verge of extinction in this area. Fishing for bluefin tuna also can also result in the by-catch of seabirds, a range of shark species and New Zealand fur seals.
The text on the sustainability of each species that has been listed has come from the Marine Conservation Society's Fishonline website. To learn more about the sustainable seafood see the Marine Conservation Societies Fishonline website.
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