Britain’s Most Iconic Fish Nears Breaking Point

The days of Britain’s fish and chip shops might be numbered. Consumers in the U.K. are being warned to “completely avoid” all home-caught cod by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). The nation’s cod stocks have declined over the last decade, driven by overfishing and sea temperature changes, warns the environmental charity. The downgrading of all U.K.-caught cod in its Good Fish Guide—an assessment published twice a year to help consumers make more sustainable choices—is a “warning signal,” wrote Kerry Lyne, the guide’s manager, in a press statement. “There’s a scandal in the making,” said Hugo Tagholm, executive director of Oceana UK, referencing the wide-scale extraction of iconic British species like cod, mackerel and scampi at unsustainable rates. We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. Every day or once a week, our original stories and digest of the web’s top headlines deliver the full story, for free. Our #1 newsletter delivers the week’s climate and energy ...