KEY POINTS:
Another string of fish species has been added to the unsustainable list in Forest & Bird's new Best Fish Guide.
The guide contains seven species considered environmentally unsustainable since the list was last compiled in 2005-06.
They include red snapper, moonfish, striped marlin, blue shark, mako shark, porbeagle shark and lookdown dory.
Forest & Bird conservation advocate Kirstie Knowles said on a more positive note, kina, anchovy, pilchards, sprats and blue mackerel had come within one to two points of making it into the green list of fisheries which are sustainable.
"Again, no species are ranked as sustainable, but with improvements to fisheries management we could potentially see some fisheries ranked in the green list in future," she said.
Orange roughy is again ranked as the worst fishery for environmental sustainability.
That has been blamed on years of overfishing and bottom trawling which severely damages marine ecosystems.
The Best Fish Guide is compiled to help consumers make the best choices for the sustainability of the marine environment when they buy fish.
Fisheries are ranked in the Best Fish Guide according to management of fish stocks, levels of habitat damage, bycatch of marine mammals and seabirds, and adequacy of monitoring.
Ms Knowles said Forest & Bird encouraged consumers to ask their fish retailer which methods are used to catch fish and avoid buying fish that is caught using gill and set netting, middle-depth trawling and bottom trawling in particular.
* FISH GUIDE
The rankings reflect the state of each fishery from best to worst choice. Forest & Bird recommends consumers avoid species at the bottom of their ranking and opt for species at the beginning of the list.
Best 10: Kina, anchovy, pilchards, sprats, blue mackerel, skipjack tuna, garfish, yellow-eyed mullet, cockles, kahawai.
Worst 10: Orange roughy, southern bluefin tuna, oreos, porbeagle shark, mako shark, Pacific bluefin tuna, blue shark, hoki, snapper, swordfish.
- NZPA
