Ten fish to eat to help the Brexit transition

Consumers in the UK have been urged to move away from eating popular fish including cod and tuna after Brexit, instead choosing more sustainable species to help the UK fishing industry.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) updated its Good Fish Guide this week, which lists best and worst fish to eat in terms of sustainability, including a new “post-Brexit top 10”.

The Society says it wants consumers to wean themselves off the “big five” of cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns, and instead try out fish like dab, mackerel, megrim, Dover sole and pollack.

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The guide says that choosing from a broader range of fish “takes pressure off individual fisheries” and “encourages demand for the most sustainable and local seafood”, reducing the amount of fish exported in favour of developing UK markets, the MCS said.

“UK consumers tend to stick to their tried and tested top five – both in taste and familiarity but not always sustainability,” Good Fish Guide programme manager Bernadette Clarke said.

“Cod, tuna, salmon, haddock and prawns from the right sources are all OK, but there’s so much more to explore.

“We are currently exporting around 75% of fish caught and landed in the UK, but we’re the ninth largest importer of fish in the world with around 70% of the seafood value entering the UK fish supply chain coming from overseas. By choosing more sustainable sources and keeping it local, it will help reduce wasting wild caught fish that are discarded dead because they have less value.”

The MCS's post-Brexit top ten is as follows:

1. Dab, seine-netted in the North Sea
2. MSC (Marine Stewardship Council)-certified hake from Cornwall
3. MSC-certified herring from the Irish, Celtic and North seas, south-west Ireland and the eastern English Channel
4. Mackerel handlined in the south-west of England
5. Megrim from the northern North Sea and west of Scotland
6. British rope-grown mussels
7. Brown crab from Devon inshore potting area
8. Queen scallops from the Fal estuary
9. Pollock handlined from the Celtic Sea
10. Dover sole from the western Channel

The site also suggests that conservation-minded consumers avoid these species at risk of over-fishing:

• Eel
• Grouper
• Halibut from the Atlantic
• Blue Marlin from the Atlantic
• Mullet
• Non-certified King or Tiger Prawns
• Atlantic Salmon
• Seabass
• Common and Longnose Skate
• Bigeye and Bluefin Tuna
• Whitebait
• Wolffish