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John Dory

Fish · Last reviewed 2026-08-15

A thin, slow, unmistakable ambush predator with a black thumbprint on each flank and a mouth that shoots forward — a fish that hunts by being almost invisible edge-on.

Safety

Venomous and spined species — Minor injury

Long needle-like first dorsal spines and rows of sharp bony spines along the dorsal and anal fin bases. The fish is thin, so the instinctive grip around the middle puts a palm directly onto them. There is no venom; the injury is a puncture and the risk is infection.

What reduces it: Hold the fish by the lower jaw or across the head rather than around the body, or support it flat on a wet surface. Unhook with pliers. Wash and cover any puncture and watch it, because marine puncture wounds infect readily.

Precautions that always apply here

  • Handle spined and venomous species with the spines controlled. Know which local species have them before you fish, not afterwards.
  • Wet your hands before touching a fish. Dry hands strip the protective mucus layer that keeps infection out.
  • Support the fish's weight along its body, keep it out of the water for as short a time as possible, and hold it over something soft.

The John Dory is one of the few fish that can be identified beyond argument from a bad photograph. It is extremely deep-bodied and extremely thin — laterally compressed almost to a plate — olive-brown to grey, with long trailing filaments from the spiny dorsal and a conspicuous dark round blotch ringed with pale on each flank.

THE WHOLE ANIMAL IS A DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR ITS MOUTH. A John Dory is a poor swimmer with no speed to speak of. It hunts by drifting slowly towards small fish head-on, where its extreme thinness makes it very nearly invisible, closing to point-blank range, and then firing its enormously protrusible jaws forward into a tube that engulfs the prey almost instantaneously. Everything about the body plan exists to get that mouth close enough.

THE BLOTCH HAS A STORY AND PROBABLY A FUNCTION. Tradition names it the thumbprint of Saint Peter, which is where the name St Peter's fish comes from. Biologically it is most plausibly an eyespot — a startle or misdirection mark of the kind many fish carry.

IT IS ALSO EXCELLENT EATING AND ALMOST ENTIRELY BYCATCH. Very few anglers set out to catch a John Dory. Most are taken incidentally over reef and mixed ground, and a great many are taken commercially in mixed demersal fisheries where no assessment of the stock exists.

Identification

FishingHQ holds no photograph of this species whose identity and licensing it can vouch for, so it is not showing one. Misidentified fish photographs teach identification wrongly, and a picture with an unchecked caption would be worse than none. The identification points below are what to look at instead.

Scientific name
Zeus faber
Family
Zeidae
Water
Saltwater
Conservation status
Data Deficient
Regions
Britain & Ireland, Western Europe, Northern Europe, Mediterranean, North Africa, East & Southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand
  • EXTREMELY DEEP AND EXTREMELY THIN — a tall oval seen from the side and almost nothing seen head-on. No other fish in British and Irish seas has this outline.
  • A conspicuous dark round blotch ringed with pale on the middle of each flank, traditionally called St Peter's thumbprint.
  • Long trailing filaments extending from the spines of the first dorsal fin.
  • A very large, strongly protrusible mouth that can shoot forward into a tube — visible even on a dead fish as an oversized, oddly hinged jaw.
  • Olive-brown, grey or yellowish body, often with vague mottling; a row of bony spines along the bases of the dorsal and anal fins.
  • Slow-moving and unbothered in the water, which is itself a clue: an unhurried, plate-thin fish hanging over reef is this one.

Size

Typical
30–45 cm and 0.8–2 kg for rod-caught fish.
Large
Over 50 cm and 3 kg.

Exceptional: Around 65–90 cm is the reported maximum for the species, with weights of several kilograms. Very large specimens are uncommon anywhere.

Lifecycle and reproduction

John Dory hatch from pelagic eggs and pass through a planktonic larval stage before adopting the adult form and habit. Growth is moderate, maturity comes at around three to four years, and the species is not exceptionally long-lived. Fish are generally solitary rather than shoaling at every stage — a consequence of an ambush strategy that gains nothing from company and would be hindered by it.

A broadcast spawner releasing pelagic eggs, with spawning taking place in spring and summer and later further north in the range. There is no nest, no parental care and no aggregation of the kind that concentrates a population into a vulnerable moment. Spawning is protracted rather than sharply seasonal in the warmer parts of the range.

Feeding and senses

Almost entirely piscivorous. John Dory take small shoaling fish — sandeels, sprats, small herring, pouting, juveniles of many species — and some cephalopods and crustaceans. The method is stalking rather than pursuit: the fish approaches head-on, presenting its narrowest profile, drifts closer using the delicate dorsal and anal fins for propulsion rather than the tail, and at very short range protrudes its jaws forward into a tube and engulfs the prey. It is a strategy of patience and geometry rather than speed.

Vision is dominant and the large eyes are set high on a head built for forward-facing approach. The whole hunting method depends on seeing prey clearly and judging the closing distance precisely, which is why John Dory are fish of reasonably clear water over structure rather than of turbid estuaries. For an angler the consequence is that they respond to visual presentation — a slowly worked lure, a livebait or a fluttering strip — rather than to scent, and they are famously unhurried about taking it.

Through the year

Present in British and Irish waters chiefly in summer and autumn, moving inshore as water warms and retreating into deeper water in winter. Numbers in the northern part of the range vary considerably between years with temperature, and the species has become more frequently reported in British waters over recent decades. Further south it is present year-round.

Distribution

Eastern Atlantic from Norway and the British Isles south to South Africa, throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, with related populations in the Indo-Pacific and off Australia and New Zealand. Occurs over reef, wreck and mixed ground from around 5 m to 400 m, most commonly 50 to 150 m. The global Red List assessment is Data Deficient: the species is widely taken as bycatch in mixed demersal fisheries and there is no global stock assessment behind it, which is a statement about how little is known rather than a reassurance.

This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.

Why anglers care

Almost never targeted and always welcome. John Dory are taken incidentally by anglers fishing reef, wreck and mixed ground with baits or lures, and by a smaller number who deliberately fish small livebaits or slowly worked soft plastics near structure where dories are known. They do not fight in any meaningful sense — the body plan has no capacity for it — so the interest is entirely in the fish itself and in its quality as food, which is very high.

Handling and returning

John Dory carry rows of sharp bony spines along the bases of the dorsal and anal fins, and the first dorsal spines are long and needle-like. None is venomous and none is dangerous, but the body is thin and the natural grip — a hand around the middle — puts a palm directly onto them. Hold the fish by the lower jaw or across the head, or support it flat on a wet surface, and use pliers to unhook. The species suffers barotrauma from depth like other swim-bladdered fish. It does not thrash, which makes handling easy, and it is easily damaged by rough handling for the same reason: there is very little fish there.

Going further

Reef, wreck and a summer visitor that is arriving more often

The John Dory needs two things from a place: structure that concentrates small fish, and water clear enough to hunt in.

THE GROUND IS STRUCTURE. Reef, wreck, rough and mixed ground, and the edges where they meet cleaner bottom. The reason is entirely about prey: a dory eats small shoaling fish, and small shoaling fish gather around structure. A dory on featureless sand has nothing to stalk.

DEPTH IS BROAD, WITH A USEFUL MIDDLE. The species occurs from about five metres to four hundred, most commonly between fifty and a hundred and fifty. Inshore captures in shallow water happen, particularly in summer, and shallow dories are the ones anglers are most likely to encounter.

CLARITY MATTERS MORE THAN FOR MOST SPECIES. The hunting method — approach head-on, judge the range, fire the jaws at the last moment — is a visual one that requires the fish to see clearly and to time precisely. That is why John Dory are creatures of reasonably clear water over structure and are not estuary fish. Where a flounder thrives in opaque brown water, a dory cannot operate in it.

THE SEASON IN BRITAIN IS SUMMER AND AUTUMN. Fish move inshore as the sea warms and withdraw into deeper water over winter. Further south in the range the species is present all year, so the British seasonality is a range-edge effect rather than something the fish does everywhere.

AND THE RANGE EDGE IS MOVING. John Dory have been reported more frequently in British and Irish waters over recent decades, and year-to-year abundance in the north varies markedly with temperature. This is another species where an angler can watch a distribution shift happen, and it belongs in the same conversation as tub gurnard and black bream rather than being treated as a curiosity.

THE STOCK POSITION IS HONESTLY UNKNOWN. The global Red List assessment is Data Deficient. The species is taken as bycatch across mixed demersal fisheries throughout its range and there is no global assessment behind it. That is not a reassurance and should not be read as one — it is a record of how little is known.

No retention rule, minimum size or protected-area condition is stated here; those vary by administration and are revised.

Practitioner consensus

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including regional ground, seasonal timing and species behaviour.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • Good Fish Guide — Marine Conservation Society (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Sustainability ratings for commercially caught species and the stock and gear considerations behind them.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

A slow fish with a fast mouth: how a John Dory catches anything at all

The John Dory is one of the clearest examples in the sea of a body built around a single mechanism.

IT CANNOT CHASE. There is no burst speed here and no sustained cruising ability worth the name. The tail is small, the body is a thin plate, and the fish propels itself mostly with delicate undulations of the dorsal and anal fins rather than with the tail at all. Against a sprat, in a straight race, the dory loses.

SO IT DOES NOT RACE. It approaches HEAD-ON, which is the whole trick. Seen from in front, a fish compressed almost to the thickness of a plate is very nearly invisible — a vertical line with two eyes. The dory drifts towards a small fish along that axis, slowly and without the lateral movement that would betray it, and closes the distance to a matter of centimetres.

THEN THE MOUTH FIRES. The jaws are enormously protrusible: they shoot forward into a tube, and the sudden expansion of the mouth cavity draws water and prey in together. The strike takes a fraction of a second and needs no swimming speed at all, because the mouth travels rather than the fish.

EVERY OTHER FEATURE FOLLOWS FROM THAT. The extreme thinness is camouflage on the approach axis. The high-set eyes give forward binocular vision for range judgement. The slow, fastidious fin propulsion avoids the pressure wave a tail beat would send ahead. Even the solitary habit follows: an ambush this delicate gains nothing from company.

THE DIET IS ACCORDINGLY ALL FISH — sandeels, sprats, small herring, pouting, juveniles of many species — with some squid and crustaceans taken opportunistically.

SIZE: 30 to 45 centimetres and roughly one to two kilograms is ordinary; over 50 centimetres and three kilograms is a large one; the reported maximum runs to 65 to 90 centimetres. But a great deal of that length is depth of body rather than mass, and a John Dory weighs strikingly little for its apparent size.

FOR AN ANGLER THE LESSON IS PRESENTATION, NOT SCENT. Dories take slowly worked lures, small livebaits and fluttering strip baits fished near structure, and they take them without hurry. Fast retrieves and heavy scent are both beside the point.

Scientific evidence

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic identification characters, family placement and distribution as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Spawning, the eyespot, and handling a fish with no fight in it

The John Dory's reproduction is the ordinary part of an otherwise extraordinary animal.

BROADCAST SPAWNING, PELAGIC EGGS, NO CARE. Spawning takes place in spring and summer, later further north, with eggs released into the water column and larvae drifting in the plankton before taking on the adult form. There is no nest, no guarding and no spawning aggregation that concentrates the population into a vulnerable moment — the opposite of black bream, and a genuinely different conservation profile.

MATURITY AT ROUGHLY THREE TO FOUR YEARS, moderate growth, and no exceptional longevity. Fish are solitary at essentially every stage after the larval phase, which is what an ambush strategy implies: a second dory nearby is a competitor for the same approach and a warning to the same prey.

THE BLOTCH IS PROBABLY AN EYESPOT. Tradition holds that the dark ringed mark on each flank is the thumbprint left by Saint Peter when he took a coin from the fish's mouth, which is the origin of the name St Peter's fish and of the Mediterranean names built on the same story. The biological reading is the ordinary one for a conspicuous ringed flank mark: a startle or misdirection signal that draws a predator's strike away from the head, of the kind many unrelated fish carry. The story and the function are not in competition — one is folklore worth knowing and the other is what the mark is for.

HANDLING: SPINY, FRAGILE, AND COMPLETELY UNTHREATENING. Rows of sharp bony spines run along the bases of the dorsal and anal fins and the first dorsal spines are long and needle-like. None is venomous. But the body is a thin plate, and the instinctive grip — a hand closed around the middle — puts a palm straight onto the dorsal spines.

SO HOLD IT BY THE LOWER JAW, or across the head, or simply support it flat on a wet surface. Unhook with pliers. The fish will not thrash, which makes all of this easy, and that same passivity means rough handling does damage the fish cannot resist — there is very little animal there and it bruises.

BAROTRAUMA APPLIES. A dory brought up quickly from a deep mark suffers swim-bladder expansion and may not be returnable alive, which is worth deciding about before fishing deep ground rather than after.

Scientific evidence

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic identification characters, family placement and distribution as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • Cefas science, advice and data on marine and freshwater environments — Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: UK marine fisheries science: stock monitoring, survey data and the biological basis of management advice for the species concerned.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where to go next

Similar and related fish

What these connections rest on (2)

Scientific evidence — 2 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • European sprat

    A dietary claim naming Sprattus sprattus specifically, because the edge is about that species and not about small shoaling fish generally.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: The piscivorous diet of Zeus faber, and the distribution and shoaling habit of Sprattus sprattus in north-east Atlantic and shelf waters.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • Cefas science, advice and data on marine and freshwater environments — Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: UK survey data on the distribution and abundance of Sprattus sprattus and its role in the shelf food web.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Lesser sandeel

    A dietary claim naming Ammodytes marinus specifically, as the precision audit requires of any edge asserting something about a species.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: The almost entirely piscivorous diet of Zeus faber, and the abundance and distribution of Ammodytes marinus in the same north-east Atlantic waters.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Habitat, depth range and feeding habit for Zeus faber and for Ammodytes marinus in the eastern Atlantic.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How it is caught

What these connections rest on (2)

Practitioner consensus — 2 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Jigging

    A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Livebaiting at sea

    A statement about how a species is fished, which is angling convention rather than biology and is labelled as such.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where it lives

What these connections rest on (3)

Scientific evidence — 3 connections

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • Inshore ground

    A distributional claim about where a species is found, which is a claim about the world and rests on the standard regional reference works rather than on angling report.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Kelp forest

    A distributional claim about where a species is found, which is a claim about the world and rests on the standard regional reference works rather than on angling report.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Open ocean

    A distributional claim about where a species is found, which is a claim about the world and rests on the standard regional reference works rather than on angling report.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Where you will find it

What these connections rest on (1)

Scientific evidence — 1 connection

Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.

  • The Isles of Scilly

    A claim that a place contains the ground, water and seasonal conditions the species is associated with. It is a distributional statement about the world, it rests on the regional reference literature, and it deliberately asserts nothing about access, permission or catch.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution and habitat association of the marine, estuarine and freshwater fishes of the British Isles, including which coasts, estuaries and ground types a species occupies.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Recorded distribution, depth range and habitat association for the species named.States this directlyPassage read and verified

Understanding this fish

What these connections rest on (2)

Practitioner consensus — 2 connections

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • How fish detect prey

    A record joined to the mechanism that explains it, which is what makes a species page transferable rather than a list of facts.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

  • Turbidity and visibility

    A record joined to the mechanism that explains it, which is what makes a species page transferable rather than a list of facts.

    • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including ground, seasonal timing, bait and method convention.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of species behaviour and regional angling practice, recorded as consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Told apart from

What these connections rest on (1)

Practitioner consensus — 1 connection

Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.

  • Black seabream

    Two records a reader will hold together — here because the fish are confused with one another in the hand, which is an identification problem rather than a preference.

    • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat association, identification and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
    • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic characters, habitat and depth range as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

Check the rules before you fish

Fishing laws, bylaws, access rules, seasons, bait restrictions and permitted methods vary by location and can change. Check the current rules from the relevant authority and the water you intend to fish before fishing.

Check with:

  • Current national or regional law for where you are fishing
  • Current local bylaws
  • The relevant fisheries authority
  • The landowner, club or fishery whose water it is
  • Any restrictions specific to the species or the method you intend to use

Sources for this page

  • The Fishes of the British Isles and North-West Europe — Macmillan, 1969 (Reference work)Relied on for: Distribution, habitat, identification characters and biology of the fishes of the British Isles and north-west Europe.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • FAO Species Identification Guides for Fishery Purposes and the FAO Species Catalogues — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Diagnostic identification characters, family placement and distribution as set out in the FAO species identification sheets for the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK and European sea angling practice as reported by practitioners, including regional ground, seasonal timing and species behaviour.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
  • Good Fish Guide — Marine Conservation Society (Conservation authority)Relied on for: Sustainability ratings for commercially caught species and the stock and gear considerations behind them.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly

How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.

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