MCS Downgrades Hake to Amber, Coley to Red — SkimNews
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- Marine Conservation Society downgraded European hake caught in the North Sea, Celtic Seas and Bay of Biscay from green to amber, citing declining stocks and increased fishing pressure
- Coley caught around the UK — North Sea, West of Scotland, Rockall and Skagerrak — was cut from amber to red, the guide's worst rating, meaning it is now a "fish to avoid"; of 10 coley fisheries rated, eight remain amber and two are still green
- MCS recommended wild-caught sea bass from around the UK as a like-for-like substitute for cod, noting it has a similarly mild flavour and flaky texture
- UK cod populations have been declining since 2015, with overfishing the main cause alongside changing sea temperatures affecting breeding and juvenile survival
- UK Atlantic bluefin tuna earned a new green rating after a major population recovery, which MCS head of ocean regeneration Chris Graham attributed to better fisheries management introduced more than 20 years ago
- Lyme Bay "disco-pot" scallops entered the guide with an amber rating — LED-lit pots attract scallops with far less seabed damage than traditional dredging — as the latest review logged 29 downgrades against 11 upgrades across 727 ratings
Why it matters: UK shoppers who were told to swap cod for hake or coley now find those fallback fish are themselves under strain — of 727 ratings reviewed, 29 were downgraded and only 11 upgraded, narrowing the pool of "ocean-friendly" white-fish options. For households still rotating through the UK's big five species, MCS points to UK wild-caught sea bass as the new like-for-like cod substitute.
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