With fish like cod, haddock and grouper now listed as endangered by the IUCN, many people are worried about eating them. Other concerns for divers are those fish which are associated with high levels of by-catch. This is where animals like dolphins and turtles are killed accidently in the nets. This table, reproduced with the permission of the Marine Conservation Society, lists the top 20 species to avoid.
Species | Reason | Alternatives |
Conger eel | Just about all conger eels which are caught in fishing nets are juveniles which have not yet reached spawning age. | None |
Atlantic salmon | Wild stocks reduced by 50% in last 20 years | Wild Pacific salmon. Responsibly and/or organically farmed salmon. |
Chilean seabass (Patagonian toothfish) | Species threatened with extinction by illegal fishing, also high levels of seabird bycatch. | None |
Dogfish/spurdog | Species listed by IUCN** | None |
*European Hake | Species heavily overfished and now scarce | South African hake (M.capensis) |
European Seabass | Trawl fisheries target pre-spawning & spawning fish also high levels of cetacean by-catch | Line caught or farmed seabass |
Grouper | Many species are listed by IUCN** | None |
*Haddock (from overfished stocks) | Species listed by IUCN** | Line caught fish from Icelandic & Faroese waters |
*Ling (molva spp) | Deep-water species and habitat vulnerable to impacts of exploitation & trawling | None |
Marlin | Many species are listed by IUCN** | None |
*Monkfish | Long-lived species vulnerable to exploitation. Mature females extremely rare | None |
North Atlantic halibut | Species listed by IUCN** | Line caught Pacific species. Also farmed N Atlantic halibut. |
*Orange roughy | Very long-lived species vulnerable to exploitation | None |
Shark | Long-lived species vulnerable to exploitation | None |
* (Rajidae spp) | Long-lived species vulnerable to exploitation | None |
Snapper (Lutjanus spp) | Some species listed by IUCN**, others over-exploited locally | None |
Sturgeon | Long-lived species vulnerable to exploitation. 5 out of 6 Caspian Sea species listed by IUCN** | None although this species is now farmed |
Swordfish | Species listed by IUCN** | None |
Tuna | All commercially fished species listed by IUCN except skipjack & yellowfin which is over-fished | "Dolphin Friendly" (EII monitored) skipjack or yellowfin. Preferably pole & line caught. |
Warm-water or tropical prawns | High by-catch levels and habitat destruction | Responsibly farmed prawns only |
* Stocks assessed by ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) as outside Safe Biological Limits i.e. the limits for fishing mortality rates and spawning stock biomass (the total weight of all sexually mature fish in a population) beyond which the fishery is unsustainable.
** IUCN - The World Conservation Union - listing for most species is Endangered. Southern bluefin tuna is assessed as Critically Endangered.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is a charity dedicated to the protection of the marine environment and its wildlife.