The Marine Conservation Society has updated its Good Fish Guide in line with the latest scientific advice, with 17 changes in fishery sustainability ratings, eight of which have moved down the scale.
The Marine Conservation Society has updated its Good Fish Guide in line with the latest scientific advice, with 17 changes in fishery sustainability ratings, eight of which have moved down the scale.
The update represents the second year in a row that Northeast Atlantic mackerel’s rating have been downgraded, as the fishery’s ratings were previously downgraded from ‘Best Choice’ for sustainabilty in April 2023.
One of the most noticeable changes is for mackerel, including one fishery which has moved out of the MCS recommended purchases for supermarkets and restaurants.
The MCS Good Fish Guide is the charity’s flagship tool for identifying sustainable seafood. It uses a traffic light system for consumers, where green is ‘Best Choice’; amber is ‘Improvements Needed’; and red is ‘Fish to Avoid’.
The scale is further broken down using a scale of 1 to 5 for businesses, where 1 and 2 are green, 3 and 4 are amber, and the red rating for fish to avoid is given a rating of 5. MCS recommends businesses stock only seafood rated 1 to 3.
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This spring’s update to the Good Fish Guide sees mackerel caught in the Northeast Atlantic by hook and line move from a 2 to a 3 on the rating scale.
However, Northeast Atlantic mackerel caught by midwater trawl – which makes up the bulk of what supermarkets and restaurants sell – moves from a 3 to a 4, meaning that it is no longer recommended as a source of mackerel for businesses.
‘It’s deeply concerning to see a source of seafood that was once a sustainable choice in such decline,’ said Alice Moore, MCS Good Fish Guide Manager. ‘Mackerel is under immense pressure from fishing activities across multiple nations, and the stock will soon be no longer able to sustain itself.
‘We’re witnessing a steady decline in numbers, and they are nearing a breaking point. Immediate action must be taken by the UK Government to work with other nations to align catch limits with scientific advice.’
Although some management measures are in place for Northeast Atlantic mackerel, MCS says that enforcement remains insufficient. Countries like Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the UK all fish Northeast Atlantic stock but there is no unified management plan to prevent overfishing across the entire fishery.
While there is agreement between countries that catches should match scientific advice, there is no agreement on how to share quotas between the countries.
Catch limits (Total Allowable Catches or TACs) set by all parties have consistently exceeded scientifically recommended levels by between 5 per cent and 80 per cent since 2009. In recent years (2020 – 2024), TACs were, on average, 39 per cent higher than scientific advice. Although actual catches have typically fallen below these TACs, they still exceeded recommended levels by an average of 23 per cent – the equivalent of 188,410 tonnes of fish.
With mackerel stocks in decline, MCS is recommending herring from the North Sea and eastern English Channel, or sardines from Cornwall certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), as sustainable alternatives.
Other notable movements on the Good Fish Guide include monkfish caught in the North Sea moving from amber to green and blue marlin moving off the red list – from a 5 to 4 – due to a slight improvement in fishing pressure.
Farmed ratings reviewed in this update remain the same, with certified responsibly produced basa and tilapia remaining green-rated, and farmed bluefin tuna remaining in the red.
MCS updates a proportion of ratings on the Good Fish Guide twice a year, depending on the latest scientific advice. The next update is due to be in October.
Visit the charity’s website for more information on the Good Fish Guide and how the ratings work.
