The UK Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has published its latest advice to consumers on fish sustainability, including those it recommends to ''eat'', and those to ''avoid''.
The website fishonline (www.fishonline.org) gives advice for almost every variety of fish to be found on sale in the UK. A handy 'MCS Pocket Good Fish Guide' is also available. Using this information, consumers can make a sustainable seafood choice at fish counters, restaurants and other outlets. However, MCS is concerned that inadequate labelling on many seafood products will still lead to some confusion amongst shoppers.
Marine Conservation Society Fisheries Officer Sam Wilding says, "Labelling of seafood sold in the UK is lacking detail, and as such is not fit for purpose. This is leading to confusion amongst consumers who really want to make the best sustainable seafood choice. It is vital that consumers are given better information to act upon if we are to reduce the tragedy of overfishing. Whilst we wait for fish sellers to help consumers make the right sustainable seafood choice, we advise that if consumers are not confident that their fish is sustainably sourced they should question their retailer closely for more information".
The Fishonline website provides information on over 150 species of seafood available to the UK consumer. Seafood given a rating of 1 is considered the 'most sustainable' by MCS, as they are sourced from well managed, sustainable stocks using environment-friendly fishing or farming methods. Seafood given a rating of 5 is deemed 'unsustainable', from poorly managed or depleted stocks, or using methods of fishing or farming that harm the marine ecosystem.
The website provides a simple and advanced search facility, and information on the state of different stocks, impacts of the fishery on non-target species and the marine environment, the impacts of various fishing methods and lists of fish to eat and to avoid plus much more.
