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The wallet-sized Guide makes it easy to see at a glance how each fishery and species ranks. The rankings reflect the state of each fishery from Green (Best choice), to Amber (Concerns), to Red (Worst choice).

Within each colour ranking the species are listed in order, from best choice (top) to worst choice (bottom). Unfortunately no species is ranked Green at the moment. Forest and Bird recommends you avoid species that rank red and favour those species that rank amber, preferably those at the beginning of the list.

For many fisheries little is known about the status of their stocks. The lack of this basic information means it is impossible to know how well they are being managed. Where vital information is missing for a fishery a precautionary approach has been adopted and the ranking has been lowered. The absence of a stock assessment, catch limit or management plan for a fishery also lowered the ranking.

Remember that damaging fishing methods are sometimes used to catch fish so please read the comments on each species carefully for more information.

Ask your fish retailer how their fish was caught.
You can then choose to avoid the worst fishing methods.

This page was updated on 10 November, 2007