Best Fish Guide full of bad news

Forest and Bird yesterday launched a Best Fish Guide to illustrate that New Zealand's commercial fishing practices have not improved in the past year.

The wallet-sized guide, in its second edition, is designed to inform consumers which seafood to buy to minimise impacts on the environment.

"Choose wisely. There aren't plenty more fish in the sea," said guide "ambassador" Dobie Blaze, keyboard player from the Wellington band Fat Freddy's Drop.

Fish are categorised into three groups for the guide: green for best choice, of which no fish were rated; amber for those of concern, and red for those overfished.

Fish in the red category are caught using methods that Forest and Bird says damage the marine environment and catch large amounts of fish, animals and birds that are discarded.

For the guide, 68 commercial fisheries were assessed. Forest and Bird says 51 of the 68 commercial fisheries in New Zealand waters caused habitat damage, 65 caused adverse ecological effects, 32 killed a significant number of marine mammals and 27 kill significant numbers of seabirds.

"Over half of the commercial fisheries assessed by us have never had a quantitative stock assessment. You can't sustainably manage fish stocks if you don't now what size they are," Forest and Bird conservation manager Kevin Hackwell said.

According to the rankings, skipjack tuna is the best choice, ranked at the top of the amber concerns list.

Stocks of trevally have dropped the most since last year after a stock assessment indicated the fishery may be below its long-term sustainable size.

"Oysters and scallops have moved into the red list because of concerns about the environmental impact of dredging and the impact of disease on oysters," Mr Hackwell said. "Once again, orange roughy was at the bottom of the list. Most orange roughy stocks are overfished and below sustainable levels."

The four fish whose fishery faces the most problems are orange roughy, deepwater dory, pacific bluefin tuna and southern bluefin tuna.

The guide is available from Forest and Bird branches and over the internet.

Colour code list

* Amber - Concerns

Albacore tuna, Anchovy, Blue cod, Blue mackerel, Blue moki, Bluenosebutterfish/greenbone, Cockles, Frostfish, Garfish, Grey mullet, John dory, Kahawai, Kina, Kingfish/yellowtail, Packhorse lobster/crayfish, Paddle crabs, Paua, Pilchard, Red cod, Red gurnard, Rock lobster/crayfish, Silver warehou, Skipjack tuna, Sprats, Tarakihi, Trevally, White wareho, Yellow-eyed mullet

* Red - Worst Choice

Alfonsino, Arrow squid, Barracouta, Bigeye tuna, Black cardinal fish, Blue warehou, Dark ghost shark/pearl, Eels, Elephantfish, Flatfish/flounder/sole/brill/turbot, Gemfish, Grouper/hapuku/bass, Hake, Hoki, Jack mackerel, Leatherjacket/creamfish, Ling, Orange roughy, Oreos/deepwater dory, Oyster - Bluff/Nelson, Pacific bluefin tuna, Pale ghost shark/pearl, Queen scallops, Ribaldo, Rig/lemonfish, Rubyfish, Scallops, Scampi, School shark/tope/flake, Sea perch/scarpee, Skates, Snapper, Spiny dogfish, Stargazer/monkfish, Southern blue whiting, Southern bluefin tuna, Swordfish, Trumpeter, Yellow fin tuna

- NZPA