Fish to Eat

Mussel
Mytilus edulis

ADVICE
Mussels are widely cultivated and stocks generally considered to be under-exploited. The main methods of harvesting wild and farmed mussels are by dredging and hand-gathering.Choose mussels that have been sustainably harvested in the wild (by hand gathering) or farmed.

The following is a list of fish available to the UK and European consumer which have been given a rating of 1 or 2 and which MCS believes are fished within sustainable levels using methods which do not cause unacceptable damage to the environment or non-target species. The list is in alphabetical order not in order of sustainability. (download the MCS Pocket Good Fish Guide (Adobe PDF))

1.	Alaska or walleye pollock (MSC certified)
2.	Bib or pouting
3.	Black bream or porgy or seabream (from Cornwall and NW and N Wales)
4.	Clam, American hardshell (from hand-gathered farmed sources only)
5.	Clam, carpet shell (hand-gathered only)
6.	Cockle (MSC certified from Bury Inlet, SW Wales)
7.	Cod, Atlantic (MSC certified)
8.	Cod, Pacific (MSC certified)
9.	Coley or saithe (from NE Arctic and combined N Sea stock)
10.	Dab
11.	Dover sole (MSC certified from Eastern Channel)
12.	Flounder (from Cornwall and NW and N Wales)
13.	Gurnard (grey and red)
14.	Haddock (from the Northeast Arctic)
15.	Herring (MSC certified from the North Sea, Eastern English Channel and Norwegian stocks, and from fisheries in the Celtic Sea
16.	Lemon sole (otter trawl or seine net caught)
17.	Lobster, Mexican Baja California red rock (MSC certified)
18.	Lobster, Western Australian rock (MSC certified)

19.	Lythe or pollack (line caught and tagged from Cornwall))
20.	Mackerel (MSC certified from the Southwest or Eastern English Channel))
21.	Mahi Mahi (handline caught from targeted fisheries only)
22.	Mussel (sustainably harvested or farmed e.g. rope grown))
23.	Oyster (native & Pacific, sustainably farmed)
24.	Pilchard or sardine, European (traditionally harvested from Cornwall)
25.	Red mullet (not from Mediterranean)
26.	Salmon, Atlantic (Organically farmed)
27.	Salmon, Pacific (MSC certified from Alaska)
28.	Scallop (sustainably harvested e.g. dive-caught)
29.	Seabass (line-caught and tagged from Cornwall)
30.	Sole, Dover or common (from MSC certified fisheries in the Eastern English Channel)
31.	Spider crab (pot caught only)
32.	Tilapia (sustainably farmed)
33.	Trout (brown or sea and rainbow, Organically farmed)
34.	Tuna, albacore (pole and line, handline or troll-caught from S Pacific or S Atlantic)
35.	Tuna, skipjack (pole and line or handline-caught from Pacific (western & central) or Maldives)
36.	Winkle (sustainably harvested e g. hand picked)