Orange roughy

The issue:

Actually, the poor sods are red, not orange - they're only orange when they're dead. Which most of them are now. It's one of the longest lived fish known; it may live for 149 years! The big commercial fisheries for these deep sea dwellers are in the North East Atlantic and around New Zealand, and they're caught by our least favourite fishing method. Yep, you guessed it! Bottom trawling! Which trashes the seabed. You've seen pictures of the living wonders of the deep; you'd be appalled to see a trawler dragging a net the size of a football field right through it. The same wondrous environments exist around sea mounts, deep below the ocean. And you'd be horrified and angry to see what bottom trawling is doing to them.

Action:

Avoid eating orange roughy, seek MSC-certified alternatives.

Quote:

"All around the world orange roughy has been fished at levels that have led to the collapse of fisheries as the fish is long-lived and slow-breeding and therefore highly vulnerable to over-fishing." - Glenn Sant, Regional Director TRAFFIC Oceania (May 2006)

Read more:

Sustainable seafood: Consumer guides

Where to buy MSC fish

Discover alternative sustainable seafood recipes