The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has said Brexit provides an opportunity to swap the traditional “top five favourite fish” for new, more sustainable choices.
“UK consumers tend to stick to their tried and tested top five – both in taste and familiarity but not always sustainability,” explained Bernadette Clarke, MCS Good Fish Guide programme manager. “Cod, tuna, salmon, haddock and prawns, from the right sources are all OK, but there’s so much more to explore,” she added.
MCS has just updated its online Good Fish Guide. There are some new additions to its green rated “best choice” list, including: 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.
The charity has also published a post-Brexit UK top 10 of sustainable, local fish. “We’re suggesting that dab, hake, herring, mussels and mackerel become the new cod, haddock, salmon, prawns and tuna,” said Clarke. “By choosing from a wider range we’ll be putting far less stress on individual fisheries.”
The post-Brexit 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.