Efforts need to be made by businesses to make sure the fish they use in their recipes has been sustainably sourced, one expert has said.

Once a company is aware where its produce is coming from, they can decide whether they still want to sell it, suggested Emily Howgate, of Seaweb's Seafood Choices and Good Catch project facilitator.

"A good pragmatic principle is to avoid the worst, such as everything the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) have rated as red or endangered, and promote the best," she continued.

Ms Howgate pointed out that this sort of fish includes that which has been rated green by the Marine Stewardship Council.

A letter was recently written by the MCS, the Shellfish Association of Great Britain, Fish Fight and other a number of other organisations addressed to UK fisheries minister Richard Beynon.

They urged him to encourage the government to source 100 per cent of its fish sustainably.