
Good Fish Guide
Your guide to sustainable seafood
You can play a key role in securing the future of our seas and marine wildlife by making more environmentally responsible choices when buying seafood.
Our seas face a wide range of threats - click to expand
Our seas face a wide range of threats. Climate change, pollution, habitat and biodiversity loss are all impacting our seas; plus 90% of global fish stocks are either fully or over-exploited. All these factors combined mean that urgent action is needed to restore the health of our seas. Fish farming (aquaculture) is rapidly expanding to meet increasing demand for seafood, but if this is done badly it can also damage the environment and exacerbate these other problems.
Use the Good Fish Guide to find out which fish are the most sustainable (Green rated), and which are the least sustainable (Red rated). Make the right choice and reduce your impact – every purchase matters! Find out more about our seafood work, including how we develop our seafood ratings, plus sustainable seafood recipes and more.
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Ray, Cuckoo
Leucoraja naevus
In general, skates and rays are vulnerable to overfishing because they grow really slowly, mature late in life and produce few young. We don't know if their populations are healthy most of the time because, until recently, catches haven't … Read more been recorded very well. When choosing skate or ray, choose a fast-growing species like Spotted ray because their populations are at a healthier level. Avoid eating skates and rays below the size at which they can reproduce (57cm in length for Spotted Ray). If buying Spotted Ray, choose it from boats belonging to the North Devon Fishermen's Association (NDFA) because they employ better management to protect skates and rays.

Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — North Sea and Skagerrak and Kattegat
Stock detail — 3a, 4
Ray, Sandy
Leucoraja circularis
In general, skates and rays are vulnerable to overfishing because they grow really slowly, mature late in life and produce few young. We don't know if their populations are healthy most of the time because, until recently, catches haven't … Read more been recorded very well. When choosing skate or ray, choose a fast-growing species like Spotted ray because their populations are at a healthier level. Avoid eating skates and rays below the size at which they can reproduce (57cm in length for Spotted Ray). If buying Spotted Ray, choose it from boats belonging to the North Devon Fishermen's Association (NDFA) because they employ better management to protect skates and rays.

Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Celtic Sea and West of Scotland
Stock detail — 6,7
Capture method — Gill or fixed net
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Celtic Sea and West of Scotland
Stock detail — 6,7
Capture method — All applicable methods
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Cornwall
Stock detail — 7e, 7f, 7g, 7h
Ray, Shagreen
Leucoraja fullonica
In general, skates and rays are vulnerable to overfishing because they grow really slowly, mature late in life and produce few young. We don't know if their populations are healthy most of the time because, until recently, catches haven't … Read more been recorded very well. When choosing skate or ray, choose a fast-growing species like Spotted ray because their populations are at a healthier level. Avoid eating skates and rays below the size at which they can reproduce (57cm in length for Spotted Ray). If buying Spotted Ray, choose it from boats belonging to the North Devon Fishermen's Association (NDFA) because they employ better management to protect skates and rays.

Capture method — Beam trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Celtic Sea and West of Scotland
Stock detail — 6,7
Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Celtic Sea and West of Scotland
Stock detail — 6,7
Capture method — All applicable methods
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Cornwall
Stock detail — 7e, 7f, 7g, 7h
Ray, Smalleyed
Raja microocellata
In general, skates and rays are vulnerable to overfishing because they grow really slowly, mature late in life and produce few young. We don't know if their populations are healthy most of the time because, until recently, catches haven't … Read more been recorded very well. When choosing skate or ray, choose a fast-growing species like Spotted ray because their populations are at a healthier level. Avoid eating skates and rays below the size at which they can reproduce (57cm in length for Spotted Ray). If buying Spotted Ray, choose it from boats belonging to the North Devon Fishermen's Association (NDFA) because they employ better management to protect skates and rays.

Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — English Channel
Stock detail — 7d,e
Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Bristol Channel
Stock detail — 7f,g
Capture method — Gill or fixed net
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — English Channel
Stock detail — 7d,e
Capture method — Gill or fixed net
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Bristol Channel
Stock detail — 7f,g
Capture method — All applicable methods
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Cornwall
Stock detail — 7e, 7f, 7g, 7h
Ray, Spotted
Raja montagui
In general, skates and rays are vulnerable to overfishing because they grow really slowly, mature late in life and produce few young. We don't know if their populations are healthy most of the time because, until recently, catches haven't … Read more been recorded very well. When choosing skate or ray, choose a fast-growing species like Spotted ray because their populations are at a healthier level. Avoid eating skates and rays below the size at which they can reproduce (57cm in length for Spotted Ray). If buying Spotted Ray, choose it from boats belonging to the North Devon Fishermen's Association (NDFA) because they employ better management to protect skates and rays.

Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — West of Scotland and Southwest Ireland
Stock detail — 6, 7b,j
Ray, Starry
Amblyraja radiata
In general, skates and rays are vulnerable to overfishing because they grow really slowly, mature late in life and produce few young. We don't know if their populations are healthy most of the time because, until recently, catches haven't … Read more been recorded very well. When choosing skate or ray, choose a fast-growing species like Spotted ray because their populations are at a healthier level. Avoid eating skates and rays below the size at which they can reproduce (57cm in length for Spotted Ray). If buying Spotted Ray, choose it from boats belonging to the North Devon Fishermen's Association (NDFA) because they employ better management to protect skates and rays.

Capture method — Beam trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Norwegian Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat and North Sea
Stock detail — 2, 3a, 4
Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Norwegian Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat and North Sea
Stock detail — 2, 3a, 4
Ray, Thornback ray, Roker
Raja clavata
In general, skates and rays are vulnerable to overfishing because they grow really slowly, mature late in life and produce few young. We don't know if their populations are healthy most of the time because, until recently, catches haven't … Read more been recorded very well. When choosing skate or ray, choose a fast-growing species like Spotted ray because their populations are at a healthier level. Avoid eating skates and rays below the size at which they can reproduce (57cm in length for Spotted Ray). If buying Spotted Ray, choose it from boats belonging to the North Devon Fishermen's Association (NDFA) because they employ better management to protect skates and rays.

Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Western English Channel
Stock detail — 7e
Capture method — Beam trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Western English Channel
Stock detail — 7e
Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — West of Scotland
Stock detail — 6
Ray, Undulate
Raja undulata
In general, skates and rays are vulnerable to overfishing because they grow really slowly, mature late in life and produce few young. We don't know if their populations are healthy most of the time because, until recently, catches haven't … Read more been recorded very well. When choosing skate or ray, choose a fast-growing species like Spotted ray because their populations are at a healthier level. Avoid eating skates and rays below the size at which they can reproduce (57cm in length for Spotted Ray). If buying Spotted Ray, choose it from boats belonging to the North Devon Fishermen's Association (NDFA) because they employ better management to protect skates and rays.

Capture method — Beam trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Celtic Sea and west of Scotland
Stock detail — 7b,j
Capture method — Beam trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — English Channel
Stock detail — 7d,e
Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Celtic Sea and west of Scotland
Stock detail — 7b,j
Capture method — All applicable methods
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Cornwall
Stock detail — 7d,e
Salmon, Atlantic
Salmo salar
Generally, stocks of wild Atlantic salmon are depleted. Scientists recommend that fishing for salmon only takes place in rivers where stocks are at full reproductive capacity or above conservation limits. Avoid eating wild-caught salmon
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from rivers below these limits. Salmon is now, however, widely available thanks to fish farming. There are still environmental concerns relating to the farming of salmon such as sea lice transfer and escaped fish remaining. When buying farmed salmon, the best choices to make are Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) or organic certified. Salmon certified by the RSPCA Freedom Foods scheme ensure that high welfare standards are met during production, including reduced stocking densities.
Pacific salmon is a good alternative. All Alaskan salmon are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or to the Alaska FAO-Based Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM) Certification Programme Standard.

Capture method — Drift and fixed net
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — NE Atlantic
Stock detail — England and Wales: All rivers not classified as ‘Not at risk’ by the Environment Agency
Capture method — Drift and fixed net
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — NE Atlantic
Stock detail — All areas and all rivers not achieving conservation limits
Capture method — Drift and fixed net
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — NE Atlantic
Stock detail — Scotland: Rivers listed as Grade 2 or 3 by Marine Scotland
Sawfish
Pristis pristis, P.pectinata, P.perotteti
Sharks and rays are found in all the worlds oceans, from the poles to the tropics to shallow water coral reefs to water over 3,000m deep. The Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas) is unusual as it is able to enter fresh water river systems
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where it gives birth. Sharks, skates and rays are fish, but they can be distinguished from bony fish (teleosts) by their cartilaginous skeletons. There are four main types of cartilaginous fish; sharks, skates and rays, collectively called elasmobranchs, and the rarely encountered chimaeras, a more distant relative only found in deep water. They are also distinguished from bony fish by the way they breed. Reproduction in sharks and rays is a very slow process as they have a late age of sexual maturity, produce few young and have a long gestation period. No maternal care is provided to shark pups, instead they are well-developed and ready to hunt when born in order to maximise their chance of survival. All shark eggs are fertilised internally but may develop in one of three different ways: Eggs are held within a leathery case (Oviparity), known as a mermaids purse, e.g. catshark; Embryos develop within the mother and are nourished by the egg (Oviparity) e.g. basking shark; Embryos develop within the mother and are provided with nutrients from a placenta (Viviparity) e.g. smooth-hound. World-wide sharks are being removed from our seas at an alarming rate. Sharks are slow growing, long-lived with low reproduction. Finning is perhaps the most damaging and distasteful of all shark fisheries. The process is cruel and wasteful, involving the removal and retention of fins, while the rest of the shark, is discarded, often still alive, to drown or be eaten. Finning takes place all over the world (including Europe) to feed the continual and increasing demand for sharkfin soup. Fins are consumed principally in the Far East but Europe and the USA are sizeable markets for shark fin. Fins may fetch over 30 per kilo and a single basking shark tail fin can fetch up to 5,250 in Hong Kong. Blue sharks and other oceanic species are the preferred species taken.
Sawfishes are arguably the most imperiled fishes in the world; the whole family has been classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group. Because of this, they are automatically a red-rated species.

Capture method — Gill or fixed net
Capture area — Worldwide (FAO All Areas)
Stock area — All Areas
Stock detail — All Areas
Scallop, King, scallops
Pecten maximus
Most scallops are caught by dredging, which can be very damaging to habitats. Choose dive-caught as a much better option. Work is underway to try to improve understanding of the locations and sizes of UK scallop stocks - in general, the … Read more stocks in the North Sea do not seem to be doing well. Scallop fisheries in Shetland (Marine Stewardship Council-certified), Isle of Man, Lyme Bay, and the inshore Yorkshire Coast (North Eastern IFCA district) are better managed than most. Some Fishery Improvement Projects are underway to improve management and reduce environmental impacts. Avoid eating scallops below their legal minimum landing size (100-110mm) and if eating fresh from the sea, avoid their breeding season (April to September). Farmed scallops are not yet common in the UK market, but make a great sustainable alternative to wild-caught dredged scallops.

Capture method — Dredge
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — North Sea (Central)
Stock detail — 4b: Dogger Bank
Scallop, Queen, scallops
Aequipecten opercularis
In most areas, it is unknown if Queen scallops populations are healthy or not. Choose Queen Scallops from Welsh fisheries. The Isle of Man populations are in a poor state, despite adopting many management measures to improve the stock. A … Read more Pan-Irish Management Agreement is required to ensure that Irish Sea stocks are managed appropriately. Generally, fishing methods used to catch queen scallops are less destructive than king scallop dredgers.

Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Irish Sea
Stock detail — 7a: Irish Sea: offshore Isle of Man (beyond 12nm)
Capture method — Dredge
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Irish Sea
Stock detail — 7a: Irish Sea: offshore Isle of Man (beyond 12nm)
Capture method — Demersal otter trawl
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Irish Sea
Stock detail — 7a: Isle of Man (0-12nm)
Shark, Angel
Squatina squatina
Angel shark is an EU Prohibited Species and are Critically Endangered. Catches of angel shark are now rare, both in surveys and commercially. Avoid eating.

Capture method — All applicable methods
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — North East Atlantic
Stock detail — All Areas
Shark, Blue
Prionace glauca

Capture method — All applicable methods
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — Cornwall
Stock detail — 7e, 7f, 7g, 7h
Capture method — All applicable methods
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — North East Atlantic
Stock detail — All Areas
Shark, Porbeagle
Lamna nasus
Porbeagle is assessed as Critically Endangered in Northeast Atlantic by the IUCN. ICES advises that no fishing for porbeagle should be permitted, landings should not be allowed. Porbeagles are automatically scored red-rated. Avoid eating.

Capture method — All applicable methods
Capture area — North East Atlantic (FAO 27)
Stock area — North East Atlantic
Stock detail — All Areas