Brits have been warned off purchasing a dozen types of seafood including dover sole from the Irish Sea so that they don’t run out.
The latest names have been added to the “red” or “avoid” list in the Good Fish Guide.
The guide compiled by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), provides environmental ratings using a traffic light system and aims to help consumers make ocean-friendly choices.
Of the 337 wild fisheries around the British Isles, only 13 percent have a green rating and 25 percent are red.
The MCS reviewed 117 seafood ratings, leading to 53 changes including 19 moving down the sustainability scale.
Among them, a dozen received red ratings, including: pollack caught in the Channel and Celtic Seas, beam-trawled plaice from the eastern Channel, dover sole from the Irish Sea, prawns from the North Sea and sea bass from the west of Scotland.
However, North Sea and Channel mullet and North Sea sprat moved up to amber, resulting in a net increase of eight on the red list.
Good Fish Guide manager, Charlotte Coombes said: “We always recommend people look for ‘what, where and how’ on labels.
“If that’s there, you’ve got enough information to get a rating.”
The guide can be downloaded on the phone as well so that you can check a fish rating when planning a meal or in the supermarket.
Shoppers can also look for the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) blue tick on wild-caught fish and seafood (or the Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s (ASC) green logo on farmed products).
George Clark, the MSC’s UK & Ireland programme director said that the label is the “simplest way for the consumer to know that they can eat the seafood without having to worry about whether or not it is sustainable”.
This applies to everything from tinned tuna, fresh fish or frozen fish fingers.
Another one on the red list is Wild-caught Atlantic salmon. It would be good to buy Pacific (pink, red or keta) caught in Alaska, organic or ASC-certified Scottish salmon, said the MSC.
Ms Coombes said: “Anything that relies on rivers as well as the sea, like salmon and eels, is really under pressure.
“It’s not easy to replace salmon’s orange-pink flesh, but any firm white fish, such as hake or haddock, can be cooked in a similar way. Another option is farmed rainbow trout.”
