The days of Britain’s fish and chip shops might be numbered.
Consumers in the U.K. are being warned to “completely avoid” all home-caught cod by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). The nation’s cod stocks have declined over the last decade, driven by overfishing and sea temperature changes, warns the environmental charity.
The downgrading of all U.K.-caught cod in its Good Fish Guide—an assessment published twice a year to help consumers make more sustainable choices—is a “warning signal,” wrote Kerry Lyne, the guide’s manager, in a press statement.
“There’s a scandal in the making,” said Hugo Tagholm, executive director of Oceana UK, referencing the wide-scale extraction of iconic British species like cod, mackerel and scampi at unsustainable rates.
In September, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) issued scientific findings to the U.K. and European Union calling for a zero catch of North Sea cod in 2026. They advised that any commercial fishing could threaten reproduction rates.
The Denmark-based fishery board warned fishermen to avoid catching off the west coast of Scotland, in the North Sea and in the English Channel.
The advice, however, was ignored when the minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Angela Eagle, announced a 44 percent quota reduction instead. Announced as part of a joint deal with the EU and Norway, the reduction still secured 290,000 tonnes of U.K. fishing rights, valued at over half a billion dollars.
“Consistently ignoring the science is what takes us to a bad place in the climate debate, in the nature debate, in the fishing debate,” Tagholm said. “If we don’t follow the science, we’re going to end up in the wrong place. Science is absolute. Science is not politics.”
With 97 percent of UK households eating fish, the MCS has recommended consumers choose more sustainable alternatives such as Icelandic cod or European hake.
However, this is not the first reckoning for British fisheries in recent months. Last year’s MCS guide warned that mackerel stocks were nearing a breaking point from overfishing. As a result, grocery retailer Waitrose announced it would suspend all sales of mackerel beginning next month.
“It’s deeply concerning seeing so many of our iconic fisheries—from cod to mackerel—under increasing pressure,” said Chris Graham, head of sustainable seafood and ocean regeneration at MCS, in a press release. “We need strong action from the UK Government to support a transition to low-impact fisheries and sustainable seafood farming.”
Yet, with over 160 million portions of fish and chips sold each year in Britain, the news is bound to send cultural shockwaves.
Adrian Fusco, a third-generation fish and chip shop owner from Whitby, Yorkshire, described the recent announcement as the “perfect storm,” adding to already increasing costs. Owing to quota reductions and sanctions on Russian-caught white fish, prices have doubled in the last five years, he said.
“Hopefully the U.K. palate will change over the next few years,” said Fusco, referencing the need for menus to experiment with pollock and hake, or smaller portion sizes. “Nothing beats the nostalgia of walking down the pier with fish and chips. People today want their children to experience that too.”
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Johnny Sturgeon
Fisheries Reporter
Johnny Sturgeon is a London-based reporter covering fisheries and aquaculture. Joining us from the Outlaw Ocean Project, he has experience producing in-depth maritime investigations for nonprofit newsrooms. A former boatbuilder, he holds a B.A. in History & Politics from the University of Oxford, and an M.S. from Columbia Journalism School.
