Whitebait
Whitebait
Artist: Kevin Parker
Fish Profile (Sprat) - Cancer pagurus
Conservation status
Whitebait is the collective term used for very small young fish that are fried for eating. They are eaten whole, including head and bones. The fish used vary according to region. In the UK young sprats or young herrings are most commonly used.
The MCS mention Sprat as having variable sustainability with No Best Choice options. They recommend avoiding the North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat as stocks are severely depleted. However the English Channel and Baltic Sea are OK but Need Improvement.
They state: ‘the sprat population in the English Channel is healthy and fishing pressure is within sustainable limits. Most catches are by mid-water trawlers, with low or no bycatch and no impact on the seabed’
The IUCN list the European Sprat as Least Concern with no indication of decline over the past 10 years. However, catches in Norway have fluctuated.
See separate section for Herring.