Guide to 'green' species debuts

By ANNE BESTON environment reporter

Consumers are being asked to check for more than just freshness the next time they buy fish for dinner.

National conservation lobby group Forest and Bird has released the first-ever guide to buying environmentally sound fish.

Trouble is, according to the guide, no New Zealand fish is worthy of the highest-rating "green" category.

Kiwi favourites such as snapper, flounder and orange roughy get the "avoid" or "red" rating, putting them off the menu for the environmentally-conscientious.

"So far the only fish being sustainably harvested with minimum damage to the marine environment is the chocolate fish," said Forest and Bird spokesman Kevin Hackwell. But the fishing industry yesterday attacked the guide, calling it "absolute nonsense" and a "cynical publicity stunt".

"The New Zealand fishery is recognised as being among the best-managed in the world, adopting precautionary management practices to ensure long-term sustainability," said New Zealand Seafood Industry Council chief executive Owen Symmans.

The "Best Fish Guide" comes in a pocket-sized card and species sustainability is rated on the estimated size of the stock, how much damage the catch does to other species such as seabirds and damage to the marine environment.

Fish in the "amber" category - stocks not quite up to the mark but better managed or more abundant than those with a red grade - include tarakihi, trevally, oysters, scallops, kingfish and John Dory.

Judged bottom of the list are hoki, rig or lemonfish, orange roughy and deepsea cod.

Orange roughy, most of which is exported and worth $127 million in 2002 down from $200 million in previous years, is bottom of the bad list. Orange Roughy Management Company spokesman George Clement accused Forest and Bird of "carping from the sidelines". The industry had reduced catch and changed fishing practices to rebuild stocks, he said.

The guide would be available in supermarkets and distributed by Forest and Bird's 40,000 members.

It is also available on the Forest and Bird website: www.forest andbird.org.nz.