Due to the rising water temperature, red mullet is becoming more and more common in our own North Sea. It is a warm water species that is becoming increasingly popular with professional fishermen. This makes it more important to tackle the various problems involved in the fishery.
It is difficult to describe scientifically what the status of the red mullet stock is in the English Channel and the North Sea, as no data has been collected. The data that does exist, shows a highly variable stock. Due to the lack of data there is no management which makes overfishing a greater risk.
Another problem with the red mullet fishery is the amount of by-catches. Sharks and rays, for example, which take years to reproduce, may end up in fishing nets. A lack of sufficient data is also an issue here.
Because little data is available about the stock of red mullet, it is difficult to draw up regulations for this fishery, as this would be essential for good management practices. This is why we have launched a project to collect more data on this species and a number of other species caught with flyshoot. In this way, we can create a more substantiated VISwijzer advice. You can read more about our knowledge project VISwijzer and Flyshootvis here.
Due to the lack of management, stock estimates and the uncertainty about by-catches of sharks and rays, it is better to avoid eating red mullet for now. Read the extensive VISwijzer for more details.
As Good Fish, we want to learn more about the red mullet stock. With the knowledge project VISwijzer and Flyshootvis, we hope to come to a more complete VISwijzer advice. Read more about it on the project page.