Thank cod for that! Your favourite fish is back on the menu

Cod lovers can now enjoy a guilt-free trip to the chippy thanks to a successful cod recovery plan.

North Sea cod has been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), allowing fish sold in supermarkets and restaurants to carry a blue tick label which means the product is sustainable and fully traceable.

Around 70,000 tonnes of cod is eaten in the UK each year – that is just over 1kg of cod per person.

Consumers were warned about a decade ago that overfishing had caused the North Sea cod fishery’s stocks to plunge from 270,000 tonnes in the 1970s to just 44,000 tonnes in 2006.

After the fishery came close to collapse, a cod recovery plan was introduced, which reduced the number of days boats allowed to fish to reduce annual catches.

Toby Middleton from the MSC said: "Thanks to a collaborative, cross-industry effort, one of our most iconic fish has been brought back from the brink.

"Modified fishing gear, catch controls, well-managed fishing practices – all these steps have come together to revive a species that was in severe decline."

The cod stock has now recovered to 167,711 tonnes – the highest it has been since 1982.

Scottish and English cod boats have now passed an independent sustainability assessment by the MSC which allows their North Sea cod to carry the blue tick.

So which fish are sustainable and which are the species to avoid?

Here are some of the MSC certified ‘Fish to eat’:

Cod
Haddock
Halibut
Mackerel
Plaice
Salmon
Sole
Tuna

Marine Conservation Society fish to avoid:

Seabass
Seabream
Clams
Eel
Shark
Whitebait

(c) Sky News 2017: Thank cod for that! Your favourite fish is back on the menu