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Skate, common
Dipturus batis |
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REASON TO AVOID
The common skate belies its name as it is becoming very rare in UK shallow seas and in European waters. The life history and demography of this species means that it has a very low resilience to fishing pressure, and its large body size means that it is catchable even from birth. Common skate is considered depleted in the Celtic Seas and ICES recommend that no targeted fisheries be allowed for this species in this area. Common Skate is assessed as Critically Endangered by IUCN -World Conservation Union and is also listed by OSPAR as a threatened and declining species. Avoid eating.
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ADVICE / ALTERNATIVES
Avoid eating skates and rays unless you are certain they are one of the smaller ray species (spotted, cuckoo, or starry rays) whose populations are considered relatively stable, except for in the Bay of Biscay. Avoid eating these species below the size at which they mature: for spotted rays males mature at a length of about 54 cm and females at about 57 cm (both between 3 to 8 years old); for cuckoo rays males and females mature at between 54 to 59 cm in length when approximately 4 years old; for starry rays males and females mature at a length of about 40 cm (between 4 and 5 years old).
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The following is a list of fish available to the UK and European consumer which have been given a rating of 5 and which MCS believes are most vulnerable to over-fishing and/or are fished using methods which cause damage to the environment or non-target species. The list is in alphabetical order not order of threat or impact. Select a species to find out more. Click here to download the 2008-2009 version of the MCS Pocket Good Fish Guide (Adobe PDF). A new version of this guide will be available soon. |
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| 1. |
Brill (from all areas except Baltic Sea) |
| 2. |
Chilean seabass or Patagonian toothfish (from all areas except the South Georgia fishery) |
| 3. |
Cod, Atlantic (Avoid wildcaught from all areas except Northeast Arctic and Iceland) |
| 4. |
Dogfish or spurdog or rock salmon or flake |
| 5. |
Dublin Bay Prawn or langoustine or scampi (from Spain and Portugal) |
| 6. |
Eel, conger |
| 7. |
Eel, European |
| 8. |
Grouper |
| 9. |
Haddock (from the Faroes and West of Scotland fisheries) |
| 10. |
Hake, European (Southern stock) |
| 11. |
Halibut, Atlantic (Wild Caught) |
| 12. |
Halibut, Greenland |
| 13. |
Herring or sild (from West of Scotland, West Ireland, and Great Sole fisheries) |
| 14. |
Ling (except handline caught from the Faroes) |
| 15. |
Lobster, American (from Southern New England stocks) |
| 16. |
Marlin, black |
| 17. |
Marlin, blue (from Atlantic longline and purse seine fisheries) |
| 18. |
Marlin, Indo-Pacific blue |
| 19. |
Marlin, white |
| 20. |
Nursehound (from Bay of Biscay and Iberian stocks) |
| 21. |
Orange roughy |
| 22. |
Plaice (from the Western Channel, Celtic Sea, Southwest Ireland and West of Ireland and Baltic Sea) |
| 23. |
Prawn, tiger and King(except organically farmed, or GAA/GlobalGap certified) |
| 24. |
Ray, blonde |
| 25. |
Ray, sandy |
| 26. |
Ray, shagreen |
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| 27. |
Ray, smalleyed (from Bay of Biscay and Iberian stocks) |
| 28. |
Ray, thornback or roker (from Bay of Biscay and Iberian stocks) |
| 29. |
Ray, undulate |
| 30. |
Salmon, Atlantic (Wild Caught) |
| 31. |
Seabass (Pelagic Trawl only) |
| 32. |
Shark, mako |
| 33. |
Shark, porbeagle |
| 34. |
Shark, tope |
| 35. |
Skate, common |
| 36. |
Skate, longnose |
| 37. |
Skate, Norwegain or black |
| 38. |
Skate, white |
| 39. |
Sole, Dover or common (from Irish Sea) |
| 40. |
Starry smoothhound (from Bay of Biscay and Iberian stocks) |
| 41. |
Sturgeon, caviar (Wild Caught) |
| 42. |
Swordfish (Longline and Gillnet fisheries in Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and Central and Western Pacific) |
| 43. |
Trout (Brown or Sea, wild caught from Baltic) |
| 44. |
Tuna, albacore (Longline and Trawl caught from the North and South Atlantic and the Mediterranean) |
| 45. |
Tuna, bigeye |
| 46. |
Tuna, northern bluefin |
| 47. |
Tuna, Pacific bluefin |
| 48. |
Tuna, skipjack (Purse seine from W Atlantic) |
| 49. |
Tuna, southern bluefin |
| 50. |
Turbot (Wild caught) |
| 51. |
Wolffish |
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