The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has issued an urgent warning about national cod populations – which have declined significantly and unsustainably over the last 10 years
Brits have been warned to “completely avoid” the country’s favourite fish in a dire warning as population numbers of the animal drop to critical lows.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has warned the populations of British cod have recently plummeted despite zero-catch recommendations, and has called on British consumers to avoid buying the fish from supermarkets if it was UK-caught.
The environmental charity said they should “completely avoid” doing so in its Good Fish Guide, which helps both individual consumers and businesses make more sustainable seafood choices.
UK-caught cod have the organisation’s lowest possible rating, and people have instead been advised to choose European hake as a white fish alternative.
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According to UK Fisheries, Brit consumers heavily prefer cod and haddock, both of which are eaten more in Britain than in any other nation.
Most of what is sold in chippies across the country comes from outside national waters, from the Icelandic, Norwegian and Barents seas.
The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) last year recommended a zero-catch policy for 2026 in the North Sea and any adjacent waters.
But it doesn’t appear to have slowed the cod population decline, with a report from Oceana UK, a science-based advocacy, finding in 2025 that North Sea cod was “among the worst-performing” fish species. The report found cod were being subject to “continued overexploitation in full knowledge that the population is in a critical state”.
Cod populations have been trapped in a general decline due to overfishing an rapid climate shifts, although the former issue has been found to have had the most significant impact.
Rising sea temperatures have meant that the ecosystem in which cod live is massively altered, and juvenile cod have poor survival rates, while adults are struggling to reproduce – especially at levels that could sustain commercial demand. Kerry Lyne, Good Fish Guide Manager at the MCS, warned that the fish would need to be “sourced from further afield”.
She said in a statement with the MCS findings: “The challenge isn’t that fish and chips will disappear, but that the species must be sourced from further afield.”
“As pressure grows on traditional choices like cod and scampi, the Good Fish Guide highlights more sustainable alternatives and shows how consumer choices can support healthier local fish stocks and better–managed fisheries.”
The MCS has said the “best choice” for people to source sustainable alternatives is Icelandic cod which has been caught by either longline or gillnet.
Another alternative is some UK haddock, although its depends on where the fish has been caught, with the North Sea and West of Scotland described as the best points of origin.
