Red List Fish: species at high risk of being sourced
from fisheries using destructive practices
Salmon
Atlantic Cod
Dover Sole
Tuna
Monkfish
Marlin
European Hake
Atlantic Halibut
Tropical Prawns Skates & Rays
Atlantic Salmon (wild and farmed)


Wild Atlantic salmon stocks are severely
depleted and are believed to have halved in
the last 20 years. Atlantic salmon is listed as
a threatened species.
Salmon are intensively farmed – the
resulting diseases spread to wild fish, and
chemicals, antibiotics and waste from farms
pollute the environment.

Over 3 kg of wild-caught fish are needed to
produce 1 kg of salmon, which increases
pressure on marine ecosystems rather than
reducing it.

If buying farmed salmon then those certified
as organic have the highest environmental
standards in the aquaculture industry.
Choose organically farmed Atlantic Salmon
or MSC certified Pacific Salmon from
Alaska if possible.
Plaice
Haddock
Swordfish
Sharks
Atlantic Cod (except line-caught Icelandic)
 Most Atlantic cod stocks are depleted and in
decline, according to independent scientists.
 Stocks in the North Sea and Eastern Baltic
Sea are so critically low that scientists have
recommended that cod fishing should be
drastically reduced in the North Sea and
stopped in the Eastern Baltic.
 Most cod are caught by demersal trawling
which catches high numbers of unwanted
immature fish and non-target species that
live on or near the seabed. In the North Sea
on average nearly 51% of cod by number
are discarded from this type of trawl. This
by-catch is thrown back into the sea, dead or
dying.
 Stocks in Iceland are better managed.
Choose line-caught cod from areas such as
the Alaska, Northeast Arctic or Iceland as
these stocks are more sustainable and linecaught fisheries have a reduced impact on
the environment.
Haddock (except line-caught Icelandic)
 Many haddock stocks are under great
pressure.
 Haddock is usually caught in mixed
fisheries that catch cod and other depleted
fish species.
 Like cod, haddock is mostly caught by
trawling, which catches high numbers of
unwanted immature fish and non-target
species that live on or near the seabed. This
bycatch is thrown back into the sea, dead or
dying. In the North Sea on average nearly
49% of haddock by number are discarded
from this type of trawl. Stocks in Iceland
are healthier and are better managed.
 Choose line-caught haddock to minimise the
impact on other species.
Dover Sole
 Some stocks around the UK are depleted.
 Like most flatfish, Dover sole are often
caught by a particularly destructive type of
bottom trawling known as beam trawling –
heavy nets and chains are dragged over the
sea bed ploughing up everything in their
path.
 Up to 70% of the total catch from beam
trawlers is unwanted and is thrown back into
the sea, dead or dying.
 Ensure that your Dover sole is from either
the MSC certified fishery in Hastings, or the
Celtic Sea, Skaggerak or Kattegat regions as
these stocks are considered healthy and are
harvested
sustainably.
Improve
the
sustainability of your sole by choosing those
caught using fixed nets or otter trawls rather
than beam-trawled fish.
Source: Greenpeace UK