Cuckoo ray

Leucoraja naevus

3: OK - Needs improvement How we work out the ratings

What to check for

Location

West of Scotland, Southern Celtic Sea, Western English Channel and Bay of Biscay

Technical location

Atlantic, Northeast, Bay of Biscay (Central), Bay of Biscay (North), Bay of Biscay (Offshore), Irish Sea, Porcupine Bank, English Channel, Bristol Channel, Celtic Seas, West and Southwest of Ireland, Rockall, West of Scotland

Caught by

Net (gill or fixed)

Rating summary

For more information about this rating please visit: http://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/cuckoo-ray.php

Technical consultation summary

Stock is now bench marked (ICES advice) . The advice shows that this species is doing well with Biomass above MSY and Fishing pressure below MSY This has changed the stock score to 0. ICES advise increased landings of 148%. Management still poor 0.75, due to a mixed species quota for rays and skates. Skate and ray species are often mixed and marketed as Skate wings - we advise consumers and businesses to be careful that they are only buying wings from species that are rated 3 or better. For more information about this rating please visit: http://www.cornwallgoodseafoodguide.org.uk/fish-guide/cuckoo-ray.php

How we worked out this Rating

Cuckoo ray in this area is not overfished and is not subject to overfishing.This stock was benchmarked in 2022. The number of surveys used for the biomass index increased from two to eight, thereby covering a much greater stock area. Relative biomass (B/BMSY) is now shown to be increasing and is considerably above MSY Btrigger.Cuckoo ray is a common offshore species of varying commercial value. As one of the smaller and less valuable species in the skate complex, it is not targeted. There can be high levels of discarding and discard survival is variable. The most recent stock assessment suggests that fishing pressure on the stock is below FMSY, and has been for the last decade.ICES advises that when the MSY approach is applied, landings in 2023 and 2024 should be no more than 7826 and 8064 tonnes respectively. This advice is substantially larger than the previous advice, and it is not known how this increase will impact discard rates for the species.

Cuckoo ray

What to check for

Location

Technical location

Caught by

Rating summary

Technical consultation summary

How we worked out this Rating

References

Sustainable swaps

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