We are sure that our customers are aware of environmental issues, through research and when we bring fishermen to our stores to meet customers - one of the most frequent questions our customers ask on these occasions is: "are we overfishing stocks?" M&S have always been a trusted brand and we track how customers perceive us, we believe our policies on seafood contribute to our continuing to be one of the UK's most trusted retailers.

Find sustainable fish takes a great deal of time and expertise. For most consumers, the best option is to buy only sustainable fish from retailers and restaurants who really know where their fish is from, how it's caught and whether it is a responsible choice. Fish is healthy and quick to cook - there are lots of great types fish to eat so try something different and take pressure off the traditional favourites.

"My biggest concern is overfishing, which precedes all other human disturbances to marine ecosystems, including pollution, degradation of water quality, and anthropogenic climate change. But when we talk about overfishing, we are really talking about overeating. Almost all ocean fishing exists to feed humans or something we eat (such as farmed fish). Of all the flesh consumed - chicken, beef, pork, mutton, and seafood - the latter accounts for the greatest amount eaten globally. In fact, fish is one of the last wild foods most people eat with any regularity. The human appetite, a combination of population growth and demand for fish, is at the root of the global fisheries crisis. It’s time to go on a global diet."

The first and most meaningful step retailers can take is to stop selling the least sustainable seafood. Seafood from overfished stocks, destructive bottom trawl fisheries, or environmentally unsound aquaculture operations should be dropped immediately.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to find enough sustainable seafood to meet current demand given the poor state of the industry right now. The challenge is to take the immediate steps needed on the retail end to create space for the policy solutions which can help restore the health of our oceans over time.

The Earth is a water planet. When you look at it from space it is mostly blue. The ocean has a profound effect on all life and I see it as the Heart of Earth, which makes everything tick on this planet. It provides essential food resources for billions of people. We cannot waste anymore time for protection of these resources as it is very clear that there is too much capacity to catch and regulation is too weak to prevent overfishing. We cannot allow the fishing industry to deplete essential fish resources.

There is an almost mafia style "code of silence" within the fishing industry, which prevents public knowledge of the origin of fish and who caught it. The fishing industry has too much power at the table of the RFMO (Regional Fisheries Management Organization) regulators. This prevents the necessary regulation to prevent depletion and assure the health of fish stocks. History has shown that the industry is not capable of regulating itself. Consumers cannot make the right decisions as to which fish to buy unless we have much more transparency within the industry.

We need to do two things: Firstly, strive to understand global ocean systems, and secondly recognise that, nonetheless, we cannot expect ever to have full understanding of the complex and diverse oceanic realm. Once we accept that we cannot know everything then the next setp becomes logical: We need to act to protect our ocean systems by setting large portions aside as fully protected marine reserves.

Seafood should only be sourced from fisheries which meet strict criteria of sustainability. A good first move would be for the industry to understand that "sustainable" doesn't simply mean carrying on fishing until the fishery collapses, but that fisheries are managed in a way that means that the needs of both current and future generations of humans are met and that marine ecosystems are not progressively degraded in the process. Hence, the need for marine reserves.